Even last year when we had plenty of rain in the spring, it didn’t take long for the soil to dry out during June when the sun was high in the sky. Even a few days without rain is enough to make your plants flag, especially those growing in containers and baskets, and the temptation is to start splashing water around, and this spring has been the driest for years, so the prospect for the summer is starting to look bleak. It is important to be wise about the application of water, not just to conserve it, but because it generally benefits the plants in the long run. As a rule, the more water plants receive, the more soft growth they make, particularly when combined with high levels of nitrogen in the form of fertiliser. But soft leaf growth has a huge capacity to lose moisture from the surface and the plant has to suck in water from the ground to compensate for it. You can overcome this dependence on water by toughening up plants through giving them higher levels of potash, rather than nitrogen, but I’m not too keen on doing this as it tends to harden the wood too much. So when you water them, it pays to give a good long soak rather than a quick sprinkle over the surface. Applying plenty of water allows it to penetrate more deeply where the roots will be encouraged to grow down to the cool, moist soil, whereas a quick spray will barely wet the top soil, causing roots to grow at the surface where they are more prone to drying out. You can try this out for yourself by watering a can full over an area of dry soil, then dig down to see how far it has soaked in. You will be surprised, as a whole watering can full will barely wet down more than a quarter of an inch. As there is a hosepipe ban, using a free-standing hose sprinkler is out of the question, so if you water your plants with a can, you will have to use at least one can per plant if they are large. With pots or hanging baskets the best way is to dunk them in a large container right up to the rim. You will see bubbles coming from the surface. Keep the pot submerged until the bubbles stop.

Despite the recent rainy weather, there are drought conditions in the UK.
We have added this article to Garden Design Crouch End from communigate.co.uk about water usage, especially, we as we move into the summer months, wise water usage will be the key.

A push button watering can, pretty simple, and very useful. Again in times when one has to be extremely careful of water usage, this would be a great way to reduce wastage, and maximize usefulness.

It is now approaching the busiest time in the garden but the weather can be changeable. Keep checking the local weather forecasts for late frosts.

• Lightly trim formal evergreen hedges or topiary (inset) including box and yew to keep contours sharp (see guide to useful kit for further advice).

• Feed spring-flowering bulbs to encourage development of new flower buds for next year and, as flowers fade, deadhead tulips by removing flower and seed capsule.

• If frost is forecast, protect any recently purchased frost-tender summer bedding and tender vegetables with a double layer of horticultural fleece.

Here are some gardening tips from the RHS, we have some new problems in the UK this year with the drought and depending on your area, hosepipe bans.

However prudent use of water is possible, if you have for example a rain barrel to catch the rain we do have. It is also possible to fairly easily introduce Israeli style drip irrigation systems. This generally consists of a long thin tube or hose pipe, into which drip connectors are inserted, usually by simply making a hole in the pipe with an awl, and pushing the connector into the pipe.
The part that pierces has “shoulders”, which lock it in place. When the water is connected, it gives a long, steady directed drip on the plant, which gradually saturates the soil around the base of the plant and minimizes wastage.

In this section of Garden Design Crouch End, and due to the current weather in the south east, we thought it an idea to add some information about how to handle your garden becoming waterlogged. Especially where there are clay,non-absorbant soils, and if there has been a degree of compacting.
It is worth noting that patches of dead grass where the soil proves very difficult to re-wet can be caused by a fungal problem: dry patch.
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=204

Have you heard of growing communities in Crouch End?
In Hackney, Growing Communities actively challenges agribusiness and supermarket dominance by growing tonnes of inner city salad and promoting community led trade. Kerry Rankine from the social enterprise says urban growing “concentrates people’s minds on how much effort goes into producing the food we all take for granted. For many, it’s a way to start thinking about alternatives”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2012/feb/02/gardening-a…

Mahjong nights in Dorset

We went to Dorset at half term, and spent our days dodging showers and searching for ammonites and our evenings trying to work out how to play Mahjong in front of the log burner. On the way back home we called in on my nana. Nana is a natural performer: she sang for the troops during the second world war and still goes about singing to the ‘old people’ in homes. It means she has the ability to make my children sit still and listen to her. So when she told them this story – body and face entirely animated, voice full of drama – they sat, fascinated and silent:

‘Once some thieves went to a beautiful big house and stole all the family silver. They ran into the woods to try to hide the loot in the branches but all the trees shook their branches so that the thieves couldnt climb up. All except the poplar. The thieves climbed up the poplar and hid the silver in the branches and ran away. Soon the police ran into the woods looking for the silver. They couldn’t find it, and so they ordered all the trees to put their branches up into the air. Knives and forks and spoons came clattering down from the poplar’s branches, and landed on the ground below. The poplar’s punishment was to hold its arms up in the air for ever more. That is why they grow that way to this day, and why they are known as silver poplars.’

I suspect my kids will recognise silver poplars.

Lia Leendertz is a writer for the Guardian and has a very popular gardening blog. If you look down through the images you will see some wondeful food pictures also.