02 Aug Wet Weather Garden tasks
- Pull all your garden tools together.
- Give them a clean with warm soapy water.
- Biodegradable detergent is best.
- Check your garden tools are sharp and oil your secateurs
- Organise how you store your tools -small hand tools could be stored in a bucket of clean sand. Larger cutting tools could be hung on a rack. Rakes, spades and shovels can be grouped in large garbage bin with bricks in the bottom for stabilisation.
- Check if you are going to need any bagged products such as premium garden mix, potting mixture, fertiliser for upcoming plantings etc - if you have a dry spot to store these products you could purchase them now so they are ready to go for when the sun is shining.
- In between showers check the drainage in your garden beds and across paving areas. Check is the water getting away easily? Do you have pools of water sitting in spots?
- Try not to let your swimming pools over flow into garden areas. Let water out via overflow/ waste water pipes before it gets to this stage. Constant chlorinated or salt water spilling into beds will have an adverse affect on your soils and plants
- Think about what plants you will be needing for upcoming plantings- visit your local garden centres for some inspiration or look on line at some plant mail order companies
- Now is the time to source your summer flowering bulbs such as Dahlias, Gladioli and Lilies.
- Check what your veggie garden is doing - start planning what seeds you may need for your warm season veggie crops. Check what seeds you may already have. Work out a plan of what needs to be sown and when. Do they need to be planted out in trays first or can you direct sow them?
- In between showers take the time to check your plants for any pests and diseases. Fungal diseases can be more prevalent in wet conditions. Look out for snails and slugs.
- If the showers are light and there is no forecast for hail or freezing temperatures move your indoor plants outside to give them a lovely wash down.
- Take all your outdoor potted plants out of their saucers of water so they don't get totally water logged.
- Be careful of walking too much on water logged soils as you will cause more damage via soil compaction whilst the soil is boggy.
