It’s Raining!
At long last rain has fallen. Optimism has paid off so far, the (used to be) lawn and the trees and borders are thankful.
A Thankful Garden
I went out and stood in it for a while, which after this summer felt like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. The borders were cleared and the surface lightly forked over the weekend for exactly this moment, and the water went where it was needed instead of running off somewhere more convenient. Preparation is a dull word for what turns out to be a small pleasure.
The lawn has a longer memory and will sulk for a while yet. Brown grass is very rarely dead grass though, and a run of showers like this is usually all it takes to bring back a green flush from the base. The silver birches, which spent August dropping leaves to save themselves, can stop shedding and get on with being trees again.
For the bulbs to come this is the best possible news. Rain now means ground that digs kindly in September, and bulbs always settle better into soil that has had a proper drink first. The timing could hardly be better.
Enjoy your garden,
Paul Blom