Choosing right plants for garden can help protect it from flooding – minister

Homeowners are being urged to make their gardens more resilient to flooding with plants that can help them bounce back from heavy rain and floods.

The Environment Department (Defra) has highlighted five plants that can help gardens of various sizes be “flood ready”, ranging from trees and shrubs to grasses and flowers.

Officials said choosing the right plants can help ordinary gardens recover better and more quickly from heavy rainfall, reducing the risk of flooding and damage to property.

Some plants act as natural sponges that absorb water through their roots and leaves, slow the flow of water and improve the absorption of the soil, while also looking good in the garden, Defra said.

Plants which can help make a garden flood resilient include river birch (Betula nigra), a fast-growing medium-sized tree with shallow roots that stabilise soil and absorb lots of water, and dogwood (Cornus sericea), a shrub with red autumn leaves and winter stems whose fibrous roots help prevent soil erosion.

Also on the list are mace sedge (Carex grayi), a grass which grows in tufts with dense stems, slowing the flow of water to encourage it to drain away gradually, and yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) which has bright-yellow blooms and stabilises wet soil.

Red bistort (Bistorta amplexicaulis), a shrub suited to groundcover in wet areas and which also attracts pollinators, is also recommended to make gardens more resilient to flooding.

Defra, which has released the list as part of Flood Action Week, said planting flood-ready plants worked best alongside other measures, such as checking flood risk, signing up for warnings and preparing a plan for what to do if flooding hits.

Floods minister Emma Hardy said: “Dusting off your spades can help to better protect your home and garden from flooding this winter.

“Simple steps like choosing the right plants to put in your garden will get it ready for heavy rainfall and help it recover from intense wet weather.

“I urge everyone to do what they can to protect themselves from flooding this winter, such as by checking your flood risk, signing up for flood warnings, and preparing a flood plan.”

The UK is facing a rising risk from flooding because of climate change, with the Climate Change Committee earlier this week warning the country is not prepared for the impacts of the increasingly extreme weather that is already hitting home, “let alone” what is to come as global warming worsens.