The Great Heatwave of July 2022

We are now in week two of a punishing dry spell when anything living is drained of moisture.  Here in the Tyne Valley my three lawns are so dry that a scrunching noise can be heard when walked on.  I have scattered a general fertiliser on the worse affected lawns namely the front (south facing) and the orchard then given both a good watering.  I hope it will be enough but will not know for sure until this hot weather breaks and we get some rain which will make the grass green up. 

 

I have been regularly watering the borders and the fruit cage, and given the inhabitants of the fruit cage a good feed.  On the south facing side of the garden, the Knautia macedonica and clematis have a bad case of mildew so am spraying both with a mixture of cows milk and water. 

 

The roses, have also suffered in the heat, they have a touch of black spot, I have cut off all the affected leaves, sprayed with Rose Clear then given them a jolly good feed.

 

According to the television lunchtime weather forecast the temperatures should start to drop by the end of the week but alas no mention of rain.

On a happier note, the lavender planted against the house is now in flowering and is covered in bees.  Therefore my next blog will feature the bees that are gracing our garden.

Enjoy the hot weather whilst it lasts.

 

My Solution To Watering Plants Across A One Acre Garden

In order to correctly install an irrigation system to cover a large garden, one has to dig trenches at least 18inches deep (below the frost line), line the bottom of the trench with gravel then lay the pipe, back fill with more gravel then top with soil.  This is too expensive on my limited budget as I will only use the watering system in dry hot spells or when planting anything new.  I have, therefore, installed a cheaper and simpler method in my garden and the instructions for which I have detailed below.

 

1.     First, decide which areas of  the garden require watering in hot weather. Lay cheap standard garden hose to these areas, they are sold in 20, 30 and 40 metre lengths.

 

2.     Dig shallow trenches in the ground only to a depth of 5/6 inches, it is safer to run these trenches between the planting borders and the lawns to avoid cutting through them with a spade.

 

3.     Lay down a bed of sharp first, level and tamp it down so that it is compacted, the hosepipes were then laid on top of the sand, more sand was put on top, levelled then bricks or turf were laid on top. 

I have used brick edging throughout the garden, it serves two purposes, firstly to give a neat edge between herbaceous borders and lawn; and secondly my husband needs only to run the wheels of the lawn mower on top of the bricks without worrying whether the mower in end up in amongst the perennials. Maybe once a month the lawn edges need cutting (where the lawn abuts the brick). It is better if the bricks are laid at the same level of the lawn if not a little below.

The various lengths of hose terminate in the same place near the outside tape.  It is then easy to connect a short length of hose going from the outside tap to the hose ends.

It works as long I remember to turn the outside tap off first before disconnecting any of the hose length, otherwise I get very wet!

 

It works as long I remember to turn the outside tap off first before disconnecting any of the hose length, otherwise I get very wet!
 
I hope this idea is useful to someone or perhaps it might inspire a slightly tweaking.
 
Happy gardening.

My Ethos on Gardening

My ethos on gardening might be a bit different from other gardeners and by this I mean that I will try any task, any planting style or growing a plant and keep trying until I find something that works in this location. 

Usually, if I have a project or a plant that I want to try out in the garden I will research on line or ask for advice at one of the gardening clubs of which I am a member. However, sometimes what is suggested either verbally or in the written word does not always work here. You see that when gardening in a rural location and on a very exposed site such as this, it does present a different set of problems to the average garden. 

Below I have tried to list as many things as I can think of to illustrate what I have come up against since moving here nearly 20 years ago, so here goes. 

The main challenge with this site is that it is in a very, very exposed position in the valley of the River Tyne. We are 90 metres above sea level, south facing and the garden/house stands slightly proud from the surrounding properties. We have a permanent issue with strong winds, which batter the garden and house from the west. The wind will flatten any plant that is tall, so I do not grow anything which requires staking, for example tulips and delphiniums. I always now only grow roses and clematis against a trellis screwed to a wall. 

Seed heads of weeds growing in the neighbouring fields blow into the garden and the seeds germinate all around the garden. 

The wire fence, which surrounds our property on two sides, consists of chestnut posts supporting “sheep” wire (This fence was erected by the farmer to keep the cows and sheep out of our property). Unfortunately, the wire is the type which has large holes in it - large enough for rabbits to hop through. 

Our main lawn is south facing and slopes down from west to east. Any moisture naturally flows downhill so rain and dew will roll down the sloping lawn instead of soaking down into the soil. During warm, dry spells, this lawn goes brown for several months until enough rains regenerates it. Over the years I have come to accept that every summer the lawn is brown. Incidentally, I have tried using fertiliser and re seeding with grasses suited to dry conditions, but neither has solved the issue. 

So you see, the position of the property creates a number of issues which have to be acknowledged and taken into account when designing the layout and using the garden. To me the style of the garden was dictated by that of the house; each area was dictated by existing features; the wood, a sunken area became a terrace and the strip of grass where the main lawn meets the stone terrace wall became the south facing blue border. The simplistic nature of the features were dictated by budget and time. The garden has evolved over nearly 20 years and I love it to bits. I have learnt a great deal about gardening since moving here and have a “mood board” in my head of styles to carry into future properties. 

The garden covers just less than one acre and is in an enviable position, the views from both ground and first floor are stunning but come at a price. The different areas range from mature wood to paved area, and the whole garden can be best appreciated by taking my garden tour on my Home page.