Same here in terms of not getting any rain @borgadr. Even when it's forecast, often nothing turns up. Further west the pennine areas get plenty, further east they get rain when the weather comes off the sea, we get neither, it seems.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
No rain here in mid-Suffolk in nearly 3 months either. Soil is like dust and mature, large trees and shrubs in the hedgerows are dying. Not just losing leaves butdefinitely dead or dying.
Saw all this about 3 years ago as we endured our 3rd dry summer in a row interspersed by much drier than normal winters. Local river levels are way below normal and fish stocks and other wildlife are severely affected.
However, I am determined to keep some sort of perspective on all this. Yes, my ornamental garden is shrivelling before my eyes. I am watching the loss of hours of work and X pounds of money. It is soul destroying but I do know that, if we had a couple of decent downpours, at least some of it would bounce back and, at the end of the day, my livelihood and welfare does not depend on my garden.
It is the many local farmers I feel sorry for. Fields of dust are being irrigated within an inch of their life. Cereal is shrivelling in the ear, potatoes and other crops are just not developing as they should. These guys feed the country and are battling these dreadful conditions. They also have to battle the negotiators for the big supermarkets who expect them to perform miracles. I am very concerned about food shortages and rising prices again this year due to poor harvests.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
I've lost lots of London Pride (I had lots, and there's plenty left, but sad to see so much gone). The potted Acer that I had managed to cajole through the past week with only the odd crispy leaf where a shaft of sunlight hit it - it's in a very sheltered spot - lost most of its leaves in the 30° hot winds yesterday. Several more things are looking much worse in the days since the worst of the heatwave. I worked out yesterday that we've only had significant rain once since February (I can't remember when it was - April maybe - it was enough to replenish the water butts that had been empty since March). We had quite a lot of heavy drizzle on 11 May which freshened things up but didn't penetrate the ground beyond about 1cm and only dribbled a bit into the water butts. And that's it. Things didn't really stand a chance against the heatwave.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
It hasn't been so hot here but I had some small tomato plants in a plastic greenhouse and then went out of town for a few days. Despite leaving them in a tray of water half of them were crispy fried when I got home. Some of the London Pride looks rather dry and dead. I was home on the two hottest days and was able to judiciously water the most vulnerable bits so most other things survived. One advantage of having too much shade I guess?
I've managed to keep most of the flowers, two new-ish osteospermums are crispy in the middle and struggling, and I'm concerned for the big cherry tree as it's looking a bit curly. No rain at all on the horizon.
We just had a tiny shower, but the sun came straight back out,dried everything up. One astilbe looks dead,the others pretty crispy. They are in a shadey bed,very little sun, with a big fatsia that seems perfectly happy.
lost lost a very large fig tree in a very large pot, and a twisted hazel in a pot; both crispy.
Also lost all the astrantia I had planted on my woodland. I had read it’s ok in shade so was a bit surprised. It must need more water than I thought, or it hadn’t had time to establish.
Posts
Saw all this about 3 years ago as we endured our 3rd dry summer in a row interspersed by much drier than normal winters. Local river levels are way below normal and fish stocks and other wildlife are severely affected.
However, I am determined to keep some sort of perspective on all this. Yes, my ornamental garden is shrivelling before my eyes. I am watching the loss of hours of work and X pounds of money. It is soul destroying but I do know that, if we had a couple of decent downpours, at least some of it would bounce back and, at the end of the day, my livelihood and welfare does not depend on my garden.
It is the many local farmers I feel sorry for. Fields of dust are being irrigated within an inch of their life. Cereal is shrivelling in the ear, potatoes and other crops are just not developing as they should. These guys feed the country and are battling these dreadful conditions. They also have to battle the negotiators for the big supermarkets who expect them to perform miracles. I am very concerned about food shortages and rising prices again this year due to poor harvests.
The potted Acer that I had managed to cajole through the past week with only the odd crispy leaf where a shaft of sunlight hit it - it's in a very sheltered spot - lost most of its leaves in the 30° hot winds yesterday. Several more things are looking much worse in the days since the worst of the heatwave.
I worked out yesterday that we've only had significant rain once since February (I can't remember when it was - April maybe - it was enough to replenish the water butts that had been empty since March). We had quite a lot of heavy drizzle on 11 May which freshened things up but didn't penetrate the ground beyond about 1cm and only dribbled a bit into the water butts. And that's it. Things didn't really stand a chance against the heatwave.
No rain at all on the horizon.