The Daily Telegraph

At last a dousing to remedy the bowling browns

- By Guy Kelly

THE jokes came thick and fast. “What’s this strange water falling from the sky?” was one. “Struggling to remember how to wear a coat. Anyone?” was another.

Yes, it finally rained across Britain. It rained a lot, in fact, and will continue to do so in many parts of the country this weekend.

Don’t say you didn’t ask for it. After the driest summer in 57 years – driven by a heatwave that’s turned leaves the colours of autumn, left municipal parks fawn and friable, and slayed many of the hardiest flowers – a prolonged period of showers offers a chance for recovery.

At Levens Hall in Cumbria, home to the perhaps the best and certainly the oldest topiary gardens in the world, the heavens’ watering has been welcomed like an old friend.

“What a difference some rain makes,” a caption on the Facebook account of the Elizabetha­n manor house read on Wednesday, alongside two photos.

One showed the bowling green so parched it ought to be named the bowling brown. The other, taken days later, showed the same patch of grass looking in fine, verdant fettle. What a difference indeed.

Grass is hardy, though. Even at Kew Gardens, where just 0.6mm of rain fell in June, lawns were left to go dry because they recover with little fuss.

The same cannot be said for Kew’s other plants. Rare, tropical species were protected from alien conditions with constant attention, then a special system of priority watering came into play. Young trees without establishe­d root systems were saved before their wizened elders, for instance, and thirsty weeds firmly ignored.

After that, all staff could do was apply mulch, keep watering to night-time (when the sun couldn’t evaporate their hard work) and cross their green fingers.

The hard work seems to have paid off. But that’s Kew, and Levens will always look immaculate. Here’s hoping the rest of us can resuscitat­e just as easily.

 ??  ?? Rain on my parade: new officer graduates
Rain on my parade: new officer graduates

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