A strategy is a collection of actions that if implemented together, can reduce the risk of damage during a weather event or crisis.
You can use various aspects of garden landscaping to:
- direct water away from the house
- prevent the impediment to flow
- allow water to drain freely after the event.
Using landscaping to control floodwaters around your house can reduce the effects on your house.
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Actions
You should consider using pervious pavement materials around your home. These materials can help water pass through pavement into the soil after a flood.
Examples include:
- porous asphalt
- paving stones
- interlocking pavers
- pervious concrete
This can help you recover after a flood.
Low-lying houses can be susceptible to shallow overland flooding. This occurs during a rain event, or when water cannot drain effectively. It can also be caused by riverine flooding.
Small mounds and slopes in the garden can help redirect water away from the house. Gardens and landscaping can also restrict drainage of the area around your property.
You should consider landscaping that encourages water to flow away, not collect, to ensure drainage around your home.
Non-porous driveways and paved areas stop water from draining into the soil below. This can increase runoff and can concentrate water on the edge of paved areas. Soil erosion is a common symptom of this happening.
By minimising the paved area on a property, it can help support drying of the property after a flood.
You should consider using pervious pavement materials around your home. These materials can help water pass through pavement into the soil after a flood.
Examples include:
- porous asphalt
- paving stones
- interlocking pavers
- pervious concrete
This can help you recover after a flood.
You should make sure that any screens on carports, patios, verandas or other structures are permeable. This allows flood water to flow through.
Some suggested screening materials include:
- aluminium
- composite timber
- hardwood timber
- recycled plastic palings.
If the screens are impermeable, then flood water can cause them to break. This may cause damage to other items in your home. It can also increase repair times.
Bioswales are a landscaping feature used to slow, collect, and filter floodwaters. They can help redirect floodwater away from your house.
Rain gardens collect water and contain water plants.
Berms are small, landscaped mounds covered in plants. They help to divert floodwaters. Berms, placed strategically, can divert flood water from the house. They will maintain existing flow paths. This prevents adverse impacts to neighbouring properties.
Ensure sheds on your property are fixed to a concrete slab. Flood water can lift sheds, sweep them downstream toward your house or your neighbour's property and cause serious damage.