September from the Potting Shed
Wow! What a summer. I hope you are not stressed out with your garden? Hopefully by the time you are reading this we will have had some rain.
This type of weather pattern is going to make us change the way we garden and also the types of plants we can grow. I am afraid some of our good old favourites will have to go and be replaced by ones that can survive the heat. At these temperatures no matter how much you water, the plants will not survive. So, make a note of what has done well and what has suffered. Then it will be a case of making a decision on which way you want your garden to go. Beth Chatto made a great dry garden which has stood for many years. It is near Colchester which is in a very dry area of the country.
Looking after our soil is one of the main ways we can build resilience in our gardens.
An increase of 1% soil organic matter can result in an increase of 16,500 gallons of plant-available water per acre. Compost will improve the soil, build in greater water holding capacity as well as allowing better drainage in wet weather and very importantly increase the biodiversity that has been lost in our soils by constant cultivation and no organic material being added to it. This increase also aids carbon sequestration.
As to the rest of the garden, keep deadheading, forget about the lawn until we get some moisture in the soil and just look at what is doing well and enjoy that.
Geoff Hawkins.