Getting your yard ready for heavy rain

Before the storm

1. Turn off the irrigation. Switch the controller to off or "rain delay." A smart controller with a rain sensor may do this itself, but check.
2. Clear gutters and downspouts. The first big storm of the season carries a year's worth of leaves, needles, and dust into them.
3. Extend downspouts so they empty several feet away from the foundation, onto a splash block, extension, or a planted area that can take the water.
4. Clear yard drains and catch basins. Pull the grates, scoop out leaves and silt, and run a hose through to make sure water moves.
5. Bag leaves and clippings. Put them in the green bin. Don't blow or hose them into the street. Anything that reaches a storm drain can clog it mid-storm, and it flows untreated to the ocean.
6. Secure loose items. Patio umbrellas, cushions, trash cans, and lightweight pots can blow around in storm winds.
7. Help containers drain. Make sure pots have drainage holes, lift them off their saucers, and move rain-sensitive plants like succulents under an eave.
8. Cover bare soil in flat beds with wood-chip mulch to cut down on splash and erosion.

Slopes and sandbags

Bare or freshly cleared slopes are where most yard storm damage starts. Water that runs across bare soil picks up speed and carries the soil with it.

• Cover bare slopes with heavy plastic sheeting, overlapped like roof shingles from the top down and weighted with sandbags. Straw wattles laid across the slope also slow the water down.
• Use sandbags to steer water, not stop it. Lay them to guide runoff toward a drain, the street, or a safe outlet, never so that water pools against a wall or your house.
• Keep drainage channels open. Clear the V-ditches and terrace drains on hillside lots, since they're designed to carry water off the slope.
• Watch for warning signs: new cracks in the soil, bulging at the bottom of a slope, or muddy water seeping out of a hillside. Move away from the slope, and call 911 if it threatens a home or road.

If your home is near a recent burn area, such as the Kenneth Fire area around West Hills, Calabasas, and Hidden Hills or the Palisades Fire area in the Santa Monica Mountains, heavy rain can trigger mud and debris flows. Sign up for emergency alerts (NotifyLA in the City of Los Angeles, Alert LA County, or VC Alert in Ventura County) and leave when officials tell you to.

Trees and wind

Saturated soil loosens its grip on roots, and that's when wind brings down trees and large limbs. Before the storm, walk around your trees and look for:

• Dead or hanging branches, especially over the house, driveway, or power lines.
• A new or worsening lean, or soil cracking or lifting on one side of the trunk.
• Cracks, splits, or cavities in the trunk or where major limbs join it.
• Mushrooms or soft, crumbly wood at the base.

If you see any of these on a large tree, have an ISA-certified arborist look at it. Never prune near power lines yourself. In the City of Los Angeles, report a fallen or dangerous street tree by calling 311. If one does come down, see what to do if a city tree falls.

During the storm

• Watch where the water goes. Take a short video of puddles, overflowing gutters, and water heading toward the house. It's the best information you'll have for fixing drainage later.
• Stay off slopes and away from fast-moving water in channels and streets.
• Stay away from downed power lines and anything touching them. Keep at least 100 feet away and call 911.
• Follow evacuation orders if you live near a recent burn area. Mud and debris flows can happen with little warning.

After the storm

Leave the sprinklers off

After a soaking rain, Valley clay soil can stay wet for a week or more. Use the screwdriver test from our plant care guide: if a screwdriver slides easily 4 to 6 inches into the soil, there's no need to water. Restart irrigation zone by zone as each area dries out.

Look for standing water

Puddles that last more than a day or two point to a drainage problem. Roots sitting in waterlogged clay run out of air and rot, so watch nearby plants for yellowing or wilting in the following weeks. Empty saucers, buckets, and anything else holding water so it doesn't become a mosquito nursery.

Check the trees again

Look for a new lean, lifted soil around the base, or cracked limbs. Trees sometimes fail a day or two after a storm, once the wind picks up on still-wet soil.

Stay off wet beds

Walking, digging, or running equipment on soaked clay compacts it, and compacted clay sheds water for years. Wait until the soil crumbles in your hand instead of smearing.

Clean up and re-mulch

Rake washed-out mulch back into place, clear silt from drains and walkways, and top up any bare spots. Put storm debris in the green bin loose, without plastic bags. Our green bin guide covers what goes in and what to do with the overflow.

Get ahead of the weeds

Rain sets off a flush of weed seedlings within two to three weeks. Hoe or pull them while they're small and the soil is soft, before they set seed. Our guide to weeds after the first rain covers which ones to expect and how to stay ahead of them.

Hold off on fertilizer

Rain doesn't create an emergency need to feed. Most established plants don't need fertilizer in fall, and citrus feeding waits until January or February.

Plant once it drains

Fall rain is the start of the best planting season in Southern California. Once the soil has drained enough to work, it's a great time to put in new shrubs, trees, and California natives.

Drainage problems worth fixing

A storm shows you exactly where your yard's drainage fails. Note these and plan fixes for the dry months:

• Water flowing toward the house. Soil and hardscape next to the foundation should slope away from it.
• Downspouts dumping at the foundation. Extend them, or route them into a planted area that can soak water up.
• Low spots that hold water for days. These usually need regrading, a drain, or plants that tolerate wet feet.
• Drains that overflowed. They may be clogged further down the line, or simply too small for the area they serve.
• Gullies on slopes. Bare spots that eroded need planting, mulch, or erosion netting before the next storm.

Some fixes can also earn a rebate. Rain gardens and other rain-capture features count toward LADWP's Turf Replacement Rebate when you replace a lawn.