I can hardly believe I am saying this, with so much drought in the past years, and probably more to come, I don’t want to wish it away forever, but it would be good to see the drenching cease for a little while at least! I forget where I am living and think I must have woken up in the cold, dark and wet Motherland! They certainly seem to have stolen our weather for now, that’s for sure!
Right now though I am looking at blue skies and the promise of 28 degree days next week, so maybe that will give me some opportunity to get into the garden, repair and prepare.
So what has all this water, normally our living force, done to the garden?
Soil that is wet and soggy is starved of oxygen and nutrients, as all the good life-giving bacteria is drowning. The result, infectious diseases take hold, like the rust fungus that appears on many plants like broad beans and garlic.
Normally this is easily treated with a bluestone-based fungicide, but unfortunately, it needs at least 6 hours of no rain after spraying, and so far I have been lucky to get 6 minutes respite from the rain! This may mean that you need to spray a couple of times if it rains too soon after the first spraying, and hope you get a day of clear air.
For plants that are looking a little bit pale because of all the water in the soil, don't liquid feed them, rather apply a handful of compost, which will help to replenish the washed-out soil with the vital nutrients that your plants will be looking for right now.
If your garden is waterlogged, this is a good time to relook at it to see how you can raise it so next time the plants will sit safely above the water level.
I hope this ends soon and we are thinking of all of you that have been hit far harder than were have, and hope you are all safe and well and that your garden is intact and ready to go as soon as the sun starts to shine again, which it undoubtedly will.
Take care
Peter