Gardening in the time of deluge
To say the least, the recent weather has had a large impact on our gardening.
Vegetable Garden
Some things that we have grown succesfully in the past have been more or less complete failures. Potatoes are a great example of this. We have replanted our string beans several times (but finally look to be heading for success).
Some others have been mixed: the strawberries have grown and fruited very well, but the continual dampness has led to fungal disease curtailing the season. Cucurbits (pumpkins, marrows and cucumbers) seem to be getting to growth eventually Tomatoes are also an open question: some plants have more or less croaked while others look to be doing OK.
A few have done well. Broad beans are in this category as are the currants.
What has also done well are the weeds. This reflects both their reaction to the surplus water and our reaction (not getting out there to whup the weeds). However, we are now getting back into it and will hopefully overcome..
Unfortunately as I backed the mower out a tyre died. My preferred supplier needed a few days to get one in and as my expectations about the weather were over-realised meant that it took over two weeks to be able to get on the sward again. We then had a nice warm couple of days with strong winds.
After a session with my brush-cutter to lower the most egregious jungle I finally got the mower across the area on 12 December. It llooks bad now, but better than it did!
Vegetable Garden
Some things that we have grown succesfully in the past have been more or less complete failures. Potatoes are a great example of this. We have replanted our string beans several times (but finally look to be heading for success).
Some others have been mixed: the strawberries have grown and fruited very well, but the continual dampness has led to fungal disease curtailing the season. Cucurbits (pumpkins, marrows and cucumbers) seem to be getting to growth eventually Tomatoes are also an open question: some plants have more or less croaked while others look to be doing OK.
A few have done well. Broad beans are in this category as are the currants.
What has also done well are the weeds. This reflects both their reaction to the surplus water and our reaction (not getting out there to whup the weeds). However, we are now getting back into it and will hopefully overcome..
Flower Gardening
As a result of a lot of work by Frances we have a bed outside our sun-room which is approaching the appearance of an English herbaceous border. The following images show some Asiatic Lilies, several of various penstemons and a couple of long shots of the bed in toto.
Lawn Mowing
Before this episode started I decided that the lawn should be mown on 25 November because it was likely to be too wet to do so for a few days. Unfortunately as I backed the mower out a tyre died. My preferred supplier needed a few days to get one in and as my expectations about the weather were over-realised meant that it took over two weeks to be able to get on the sward again. We then had a nice warm couple of days with strong winds.
After a session with my brush-cutter to lower the most egregious jungle I finally got the mower across the area on 12 December. It llooks bad now, but better than it did!
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