THUNDERSTRUCK
If you haven’t staked your tall herbaceous plants yet, there’s still time – trust me, this hot spell will end sometime with thunder and heavy rain which will flatten everything that’s not supported – gardener’s too, I fear!
I always remember a builder I was working with last year coming to work so upset because his broad beans had been flattened by heavy, thundery rain. “It looks like a helicopter has landed in the middle of them,” he wailed.
It is such a busy time of year for gardeners. I’m sure, with the help of this dry spell, growth will slow down a bit soon but at the moment everything is growing like Jack’s beanstalk. I spent last weekend trying to push water up hill – literally – trying to get water from the outside tap by the cottage up to the top of the veggie patch and then through a leaky hose system. It’s not the easiest project I’ve tackled and is another reminder that I must sort out a decent irrigation system over the winter ready for next year.
These dry spells are a nightmare for gardeners and are definitely getting more frequent – if it goes on for much longer, I will be turning watering into “whine”.
Local garden centres are reporting a very busy few weeks as people are buying young veg plants after germination of their own seeds has failed. I have had to buy “filling in” runner beans for a client as we only had a 30% success rate from a packet of seeds.
It’s still the best way to gamble though – with a trowel and a packet of seeds!
Please ensure you have water out in the garden for wildlife. The bees (and butterflies) need shallow water, as they can’t drink from deep water. Putting stones in a plant drip tray and then filling with water will enable them to stand on the stones to drink – or you can do the same with marbles for a more decorative feature.
Birds will need clean water – to drink and bath in – and of course hedgehogs will need water too. If you have got a pond, make sure there is a way for hedgehogs to get out if they “over-reach” whilst drinking from the edge.