Welcoming in some lovely wildlife visitors

My sister-in-law recently highlighted to me that as gardeners, we get very attached to our plants and crops, so when it’s holiday time, there’s always the anxiety of who will look after them while we’re away – and will we miss out on any produce? The work that goes into our gardens can disappear in a couple of weeks if weather conditions aren’t favourable. Drought conditions aren’t helping – speak to any gardeners and the words used are ‘parched’, ‘dry’, ‘desert-like’, ‘shrivelled’, etc. The priority for water usage is for the edible plants, and it’s pointless watering grass as it’s always the first to recover. Saying all that, it’s lovely to see the sunshine and it’s good to make the most of the remaining summer days.

We have a welcome new visitor in our garden – a hedgehog, the first time for many years. The mealworms for the birds have had to be moved as they’re toxic to them, but we’ve left out water and some proper food. We hope he stays!

Most of our plants are unscathed by the heat as our garden is fairly sheltered, but the Euonymus alatus is looking very scorched. Fuchsias, lavenders and echinops are flourishing.

On the allotment, tall grass on vacant plots is a bit of a concern with the high temperatures.

A fox seems to have taken up residence in one of the sheds on the plot and is very protective of its new abode.