Rain, rain, go away... please!

By Carole Davies - 17/08/2007

I could have sworn that just a few years ago I saw a BBC news reporter standing on a dried up bed of what he claimed was “once a substantial river” and telling us that - as a result of global warming - we could expect many such scenes for years to come. Well, so much for journalism.

If you are a victim of the recent floods, my heart goes out to you. If the floodwaters were contaminated with sewage, you will need to treat food crops with caution. Leaf crops will definitely be contaminated while root crops that can be peeled or boiled pose less of a risk.

Seedlings and small plants will have been washed away. Let the ground dry out before replanting. This is also good advice for all gardens. The torrential rain will have affected all gardens in Britain and if we try to work them too soon we risk soil compaction.

There will also be long-term effects to the soil in gardens that have been flooded. Oxygen dependant microorganisms may have been killed and nutrients washed out of the ground. Plants will be prone to fungal diseases that thrive in wet, humid air and harmful bacteria that favours soggy ground. Phytophthora are killer fungal diseases that attack plant roots and stems at soil level and spread quickly.

Digging up and burning infected material is the only cure for affected plants. Soil structure will also be affected with compaction and deposits of silt. There isn’t much you can do but sit back and wait for drier conditions when you can begin to work in compost, manure and grit to return the soil to its former condition. Spike the ground to help drainage and aerate the soil. Watch your shrubs for signs of die-back and remove limbs that are obviously dead or damaged.

If you’re simply wet rather than awash, August is a good time to take stock, quite literally, by propagating new plants, taking cuttings from perennials such as penstemons, pinks, and cuttings from summer flowering shrubs.  Cuttings are so easy. For herbaceous plants cut a stem about 8cms long from the tip and then trim the length to about 4-6cms and strip the leaves leaving three or four at the tip. 

 

With herbaceous material I find I don’t need hormone rooting power. I fill a one-litre pot with good potting compost and push the cuttings around the edge, leaving 4cms between each. Once they have rooted and made visible signs of good growth they can be potted into individual pots and placed in a cold frame, cool greenhouse or even a porch over winter. Cuttings from shrubs may need some bottom heat such as a heated propagator to help them to root.  Place them into individual pots before popping them into the propagator.  

If you are growing dahlias, trap earwigs by placing straw filled flowerpots upside down on garden canes amongst the plants and dispose of the earwigs that crawl into the pots in the mornings. August is also the time to dig up old strawberry beds and prepare new ones in a different place. Either buy new plants or use plants that you have propagated earlier in the year.

Looking ahead, Autumn is a good time for planting fruit trees, bushes, and ornamental trees. So if you are thinking of planting a tree later this year it would be a good idea to prepare the site for it now.  Dig over the area to a good depth (at least two spade depths) and add some good rotted compost and horticultural grit for drainage.  I usually make it a third of good garden soil, third compost and a third grit to fill the planting pit. Meanwhile order your selection from the gardening catalogues or your local garden centre.  

If you are lucky enough to have fruit trees, now is the time to start harvesting them. Pick the early apples when ripe. You can tell if they are ready because they will come away from the branch easily when twisted. You can also pick plums this month and sow spring cabbages, radishes, and turnips. Remember to feed crops such as marrows and courgettes regularly.  If you are growing onions they should be starting to ripen.

 

To encourage the process let the leaves flop or bend them over. Once the leaves have become crisp the onion will have stopped growing and you can lift them and put them into a greenhouse or cold frame to completely ripen.

The advice for lawn care at this time of year would normally be to raise the height of cut if the ground is dry but I don’t think this will apply to many of us this year…