Notes from a small GARDEN
It’s been wet, wet, wet, which calls for ways to navigate the challenges of a soaked garden
Follow Naomi's progress as she gets to grips with her tiny urban garden on heavy Bristol clay
I consider myself a hardy gardener, I really do. I plant sensibly, I do my research and resilience is always at the forefront of my mind, but the weather just recently has been ridiculous.
According to the Met Office, the UK has had its second warmest February on record, with some areas in the south registering more than twice the average amount of rainfall. These facts are not unrelated. Raising of air temperature by 1C means the atmosphere can hold approximately 7% more moisture, and what goes up must come down – which is exactly what it has done!
Caught in the deluge, my garden is not happy. An apron of concrete under the deck catches rainwater and shoots it onto what is supposed to be a sort of lawn; on clay soil, this tends to be quite moist at the best of times, and the left-hand side of the garden next to the path suffers worst.
Admittedly, the lawn concept was never going to be easy here, but since I want as much planting in the garden as possible, it was intended as a rolling experiment to see what would work. Shade-tolerant grass seed was an easy gamble but it seems happy on only half the area – that is, where it has not established, presumably because it is running with water when it rains. Something else is required.
I’m increasin
