Readers’ gardens
A small garden in Merseyside packed with a variety of different features.
Almost four weeks of very hot, dry weather have left empty water butts and a patchy brown lawn. However, some plants have responded with excellent flowering. Our roses in particular have looked (and smelled) fantastic, from the almost perfect single-flowered bushes and ‘bargain buy’ small climber in the front garden to the fence-covering rambler in the back garden.
Even the rampant astilbe (false goat’s beard), moved to the front garden next to a privet hedge and vigorous bamboo to reduce its vigour, obviously hasn’t read the script and continues its impressive display despite the poor soil conditions and heat.
In the back garden, summer bedding has now been planted. There’s plenty of evening watering taking place to get plants established.
I remembered to pot up a couple of begonia ‘Destiny’ plants this year and they’re receiving extra care in the greenhouse.
The hot weather has meant gardening takes on a more leisurely pace, with a little weeding (especially rouge mint plants in the renovated herb bed) and deadheading taking a little longer than usual but still very enjoyable nonetheless.
The strawberries, planted in plastic windowboxes, are now on the greenhouse staging and cropping well. The protection brings the plants on a little and also the blackbirds don’t get the fruit before we do! Tomatoes and cucumber plants are thriving, with ripe fruit not too far off and the large pot of early potatoes are just about ready to harvest. One disappointment has been the miserable garlic harvest from our usual autumn planting.
Once again the outside fruit is looking good with the fig plants in particular carrying a good crop. Hopefully I’ll remember to net the redcurrants as last year’s harvest produced some well fed blackbirds (I think it is their revenge because they can’t get at the strawberries).
One pest that has ignored the weather is our population of slugs and snails who seem very fond of the hostas planted in the raised bed next to the water feature. They’re ignoring our attempts to control their appetites.
One conundrum for me at the moment is whether to use the hosepipe to top up the pond or wait for the hot spell to break, with the usual heavy downpours to do it for me? Perhaps a cold drink in the shade will help me decide.