Gardening Mary Payne MBE

How to cope with drought

HOLIDAY-makers will have enjoyed this summer with wall-towall sunshine on many days amidst unprecedentedly high temperatures, but for gardeners it has been their worst nightmare, especially for those who kindly open their gardens for others to visit. By the time you are reading this I hope it will have rained. Trying to keep precious plants alive has been a real challenge.

As this is undoubtedly a taste of what is to come with climate change, a few thoughts on how to protect your plants and gardens might not come amiss for future years. What makes a garden dry? Obviously, a lack of rainfall, but it also depends on your soil texture.

A sandy soil will dry out quicker than one with a higher clay content, although the latter may crack alarmingly. Whereas we have no control on when rain will fall nor how much, we do have some control over our soil and improving the structure will help enormously, both on the extremes of a sandy and a clay soil.

Ideally, we ought to be adding a large bucket of organic matter to a square yard of ground every year. This can be in the form of garden compost, well-rotted farmyard manure, mushroom compost, or even old potting compost. It all helps to improve the soil structure, enabling sandy soils to retain more moisture and helping clay-based soils to drain better in winter and have better aeration.

How is water lost from the soil? Plants draw up water in their roots and it then evaporates from the surface of their leaves, thus “pulling” more water up to replace it. The rate of water loss from leaves is also affected by different factors. Plants in an exposed windy site will lose more water than those in a sheltered site.

In a humid environment, water loss slows down, but increases as the atmosphere dries on a sunny day. We cannot easily affect the relative humidity around our plants outdoors but damping down the floor of your glasshouse in summer will help raise the humidity and also deters red spider mite.

The wasteful way water is lost from the soil is by evaporation from the soil surface and this is easily rectified by the application of a surface mulch immediately when the soil is moist. A minimum of 5cm (2”) is required and this has the added bonus of preventing the germination of weed seeds, indeed any seeds.

Garden compost, unless you are an expert composter, is probably full of weed seeds, so not suitable for this purpose. A wood chip product is ideal. It breaks down slowly, lasting about three years, adding valuable organic matter.

Which plants can tolerate dry conditions? Many plants have evolved with natural adaptations to enable them to cope with drought. Plants that store water in their leaves, such as succulents, e.g. Ice plants (now called Hylotelephium!) but sedums to you and me) are a classic example. There are many succulents used as house plants that are ideal for those who are prone to forget to water.

Plants with silver foliage e.g. cotton lavender (Santolina) and lamb’s ears (Stachys lanata) love the sun and tolerate dry conditions by coating the surface of their foliage with densely packed hairs that trap moisture, while the silver effect bounces off some of the intense light levels.

Plants native to Mediterranean regions e.g. lavender, broom, Genista, rosemary and thyme have small leaves, and often rely on green stems for photosynthesis. Underground storage organs, such as bulbs, tubers, corms, and rhizomes store water enabling them to survive summer drought.

All our spring flowering bulbs are well adapted and die down for the summer. Others, like bearded iris, revel in summer heat, surviving on the water stored in their horizontal fleshy rhizomes.

Other cunning tricks include having the ability to roll their leaves lengthwise to trap moisture and reduce water loss, as in the grass family, while most evergreen plants have a thick waxy surface to their

With MARY

PAYNE MBE leaves. How can we adapt our garden management? Ideally, plant in the autumn when the soil is moist and still warm, followed by a good layer of mulch. Choose plants carefully for each position. Line terracotta pots with a bottomless plastic bag to prevent water loss through the sides and stand them in saucers for the summer so that surplus water is sucked back up. Water in the evening to avoid excess evaporation. Do not rely on rain to water pots, the foliage sheds the water over the edge. There is no need to water established lawns, but if dry conditions are imminent leave the grass longer. Using a mulch mower or leaving the clippings on the lawn will add valuable organic matter. Various vegetables have a critical stage when water is required. Leafy crops e.g. lettuce, leeks, cabbage, and spinach need a constant supply. Runner beans need water when they are flowering and when the beans are developing. The varieties Firestorm, Snowstorm and Moonlight have French bean “blood” in them and are more tolerant of drier conditions. Potatoes need water when the tubers are the size of marbles. Sweet corn needs water when the tassels on the cobs are developing. The one vegetable that rarely requires water is the humble beetroot. Shading vulnerable plants with fleece will also help. The golden rule when watering is to water thoroughly, do not just damp the surface. Ensure you keep the original root ball of newly planted trees and shrubs moist and only apply water at a rate that it can be absorbed, as run-off water is wasted water. By the time you are reading this I sincerely hope it has rained, but it could all happen again next year!

Sedum Herbstfreude

SEPTEMBER GARDEN TIPS

• Scarify your lawn to remove old dead grass. Use a spring tine rake and put the old dead grass and moss that you rake out onto the compost heap. • This is the best month for establishing new lawns. Sow new seed or turf, both after careful soil preparation. Don’t skimp on this as it is the one chance to get it right! • Fast growing hedges such as leylandii may need trimming again and will look better for it throughout winter. Don’t leave this too late as that might result in brown patches. Give evergreen hedges a final trim. • This is the perfect time to plant a new hedge (or place an order for bare root plants for later). • September is the beginning of the traditional autumn planting season and is in fact the best time to plant hardy plants, and garlic, winter onion sets and spring cabbages. • Sow easy-to-grow hardy annuals directly into well prepared soil. • Cut back early flowering herbaceous perennials close to ground level unless they produce attractive seed heads. • Replant pots and hanging baskets with autumn, winter and spring flowering and foliage plants. • Make sure that any lavender plants not pruned earlier are done now. Cut off faded flowers with about 2-3 cm of leaf shoots.

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Clutton Flower Show

Members of Historia Normannis re-enactment group (l to r) Talia, Yarrow and Matilda

Members of Temple Cloud in Bloom (l to r) Diane Turner, Doris Gentle, Lyn Paul and Lins Herbert

HUGEcrowds flocked to Clutton for the annual flower show, which featured a host of attractions including a medieval reenactment group.

NGS GARDENS OF THE MONTH

Coleford House

THEriver Mells flows through this picturesque garden with large lawns abutting the river bank and a section given over to wild flowers and a well-planted ornamental lily pond.

The Georgian house and outbuildings are surrounded by vibrant herbaceous borders and lead into an orchard cum arboretum also on the river bank and into a walled garden planted in hot colours with an underfloor heated orangery.

At the back of the walled garden is a substantial bat house. On the other side of the house sits a kitchen garden and beyond that a rose cutting cum vegetable garden. Some art work will be on sale. Address: Underhill, Coleford, Radstock BA3 5LU. Contact: James Alexandroff. Opening date and time: Sunday, September 11th, 10am4pm. Admission: £5, children free. Booking tickets: Tickets can be reserved through the NGS website: https://www.ngs.org.uk or by paying at the gate.

165, Newbridge Hill BA1 3PX

Saturday September 3rd and Sunday 4th, 10am-5pm.

Admission: £5, children free, homemade teas.

The Hayes

Saturday September 10th and Sunday 11th, 2-5pm.

Newton St Loe, Bath BA2 9BU. Admission: £6, children free, homemade teas.

OTHER GARDENS OPEN FOR THE NGS To see more gardens open for the NGS, see The Yellow Book, or Local County Leaflet, available from local Garden Centres, or go to: https://www.ngs.org.uk

Successful festival

Margaret Hasell and Caroline Sweet

ANamazing amount of £2,328 was raised for Holy Trinity Church in Norton Malreward, thanks to a flower festival held there by members of Chew Valley Flower Club and church members.

The Rev Richard Greatrex, Rector of the Benefice of Chew Valley East, said: “The team of helpers at the church and Chew Valley Flower Club excelled themselves in transforming the cool stone interior of this ancient building into a technicolour cavalcade through each decade of the Queen’s record-breaking reign.”

In pride of place stood a magnificent flower pedestal near the altar, which was a copy of one of six, which had been picked for a memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey last spring. It was the work of Coral Gardiner, head Coral Gardiner adjusting her pedestal of Chew Valley display Flower Club and also a flower demonstrator.

Coral, who lives in Tunley, said: “I felt deeply honoured to have been chosen and when I was asked to help with designs for the flower festival at Holy Trinity Church, I thought this would be a good opportunity to recreate the pedestal.”

Matthew Biggs in Henton

GARDENING guru Matthew Biggs will be the guest of Henton and District Gardening Club at Henton Village Hall on Wednesday, October 19th (7.30pm) talking about the wonder of plants and how they survive in extreme climates.

A familiar voice on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners Question Time, he writes regularly for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine and BBC Countryfile. Tickets are £10 members/£15 visitors.

Details: thomassya@gmail.com 01749 674767

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