Many people are thinking about their flooded gardens and worried about the fate of their plants. So let's take a look at various plants.

• Lawns, if healthy to begin with, should be able to tolerate being submerged for 4-6 days. After the water recedes and the soil begins to dry, aeration may be helpful.
  
• Trees and shrubs will be a watch and wait situation. Some trees taking flooding well, others do not. We may see problems on flooded trees now or even over the next year or two. Environmental problems add stress to a tree's life and sometimes that stress does not show up immediately.
  
• Perennials are also a watch and wait situation. Some of them are showing a lot of fungal disease on their stems and leaves, but this does not mean that they will die. The real problem is how long the soil stays wet and is it long enough for root rots to begin. Root rots could lead to the death of the plant. We may not know the real death toll until spring when the perennials come back.
  
• Vegetable gardens can pose a serious health risk. If the vegetables have been submerged, do not eat them as you can never know what was in the flood waters. Even if the vegetables were growing in standing water, but the water did not touch the edible part, it is still wise to not eat the vegetables. Better safe than sorry.