After a property floods, there is a lot of focus on cleaning up the home and other structures. Surely, this is a very important aspect of flood cleanup. However, you do also have to think about the land itself. Your yard is probably in disarray after the flood, and restoring it back to its pre-flood condition can take a lot of work. Here are some tips to help you through that process.
Assume everything is contaminated.
Regardless of where the floodwater came from, you have to assume it is contaminated. Sewers often back up when there is a flood, so there could be sewage contamination in your yard. Plus, if the water has been sitting, then dangerous bacteria have had a chance to replicate within it. To avoid infections, make sure you treat any water that's still in your yard as contaminated. Wear gloves, don't touch it, and if you do touch it, wash your hands immediately.
Wait to rake until the soil dries out.
If you start raking up all of the leaves and landscaping debris that got washed into your yard too early, you will likely dig up the soil below. So, when it comes to your actual grass yard, you'll want to wait a little bit for the soil to dry out. Then, you can use a garden rake to gather all of the organic matter and garbage. Try to leave as much of the grass intact as possible. This way, you can reseed over it rather than having to till and replace the entire yard.
Remove shrubs and small trees that appear dead.
Sometimes shrubs and trees will die during a flood because their roots start rotting in the overly wet soil. When this happens, the trees and shrubs won't come back. So, if they appear dead right now, there is no sense in leaving them. Dig them up and remove them while the soil is still moist enough for you to dig through. Don't replace the plants until you have the rest of the yard cleaned and dried up. And when you do, choose plants that are native to your area as they will generally be more tolerant of routine flooding.
With the tips above, you should have better luck cleaning up a yard that was recently flooded. If this is too difficult to do on your own, don't hesitate to hire a professional flood cleanup team.
To find out more, contact flood cleaning services.
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