Wet garden? Keep out!

Working in the garden after a rain should always be avoided to both reduce the spread of disease and lessen soil damage.

Wet soil is easily compacted. Compaction squeezes air pockets from the soil and destroys the natural structure so water, nutrients and roots can no longer move freely through it. Once compacted, it is harder for soil to absorb water and nutrients, and once it does become saturated it takes longer to dry out. Adding organic matter to compacted soil is the only way to restore it.

Fungal diseases build up quickly in wet weather and are easily spread by human contact. Bacterial canker of tomatoes, for instance, can be spread by handling wet plants.  Bacterial blight can travel among wet bean plants in the same way. Many other vegetable fungal diseases are easily spread through human contact, so if you must handle a wet plant always wash thoroughly before touching another.

Smokers should also wash their hands before handling plants to prevent tobacco mosaic. While not caused by cigarette smoke, the disease is more easily spread among wet plants by smokers because dried tobacco in cigarettes and cigars can carry the virus. Once a plant has tobacco mosaic, there is no cure.

Ornamentals are also at risk in wet weather. Black spot on roses and gray mold and fungal leaf spot on other ornamentals can all be spread by humans working with wet plants. Ground cover diseases such as volutella stem blight of Pachysandra and phoma stem blight of Vinca may also be spread by handling wet plants.

One of the best ways to harm a lawn is to mow it when it is soaking wet, because any fungal diseases that may be present can be spread throughout the lawn. Mowing wet grass can also compact the soil, and turf is easily torn when the soil is wet. There are times when there is no other choice, but as a general rule mowing a wet lawn should be avoided.

After a rain, just imagine a KEEP OUT sign on your garden and do so until it dries out.