Arrival of much-needed rain for spring extra special

I DON’T know about you, but during the recent drought I spent a lot of time looking at my phone to see when the next rains would come, often to be excited and then disappointed by the non-arrival of the promised rain.

Well, last weekend it arrived and was plentiful (we had about 35mm), gentle and soaking.

Fortunately I had put compost and fertiliser on the lawns so I am hoping that the growth will be more than sufficient to have a lush lawn and feed the ants, crickets and grasshoppers that seem to work in concert to make sure that I have bald patches!

Judy keeps telling me that gardens are not only made up of lawns and I agree with that, but a great lawn does help make the garden special.

Talking about the garden, I know that this rain will ignite the salvias of all colours to burst into bloom. The red ones have been the first to flower. Now I will wait for the coral and “black and blue” to take their turn. In between these the various lilies, crinums, daisies and lots of other plants will start flowering. I can’t wait.

But flowers are not the only things that grow . . . weeds arrive to take advantage of the rains and if you are not very diligent they will spoil the picture.

I have a feeling that not only does the arrival of the rain bring thoughts of a beautiful garden but also an increased workload. This is the time to fertilise, spread compost to keep the moisture in the ground and to make sure that your lawn mowers and edge trimmers are ready for the new season.

I look forward to hearing your plans for the new season, especially those that we can share. Please contact me on

I look forward to hearing from you.