Since I last wrote we have been getting some jobs done and we are more or less on top of things. We had the help of the lovely George (no not the cat) who came for a day to help Philip cut the hedges. While they were doing the cutting I had a bonfire to burn a rather large heap of rubbish. We planted a native hedge along the north side of our site in the first winter and then later planted quite a lot of hornbeam hedging which is one of the few plants which make a good hedge in our clay soil.

We also had help from Nick (a friends son) who donned waders and went deep into the pond to clear out a lot of bullrushes which were spreading at an alarming rate. He also went across to the badly neglected island to remove some of the brambles which have got increasingly adventurous and are threatening to take over. Nick didn’t complain once about doing a foul job, the sticky black mud clung tenaciously to everything it came into contact with.

After all the damp cool weather it suddenly went very hot which meant that all we were capable of doing was the daily watering then I slunk in the shade for the rest of the day reading. The garden dried up very quickly and cracks started appearing in the ground. the poor plants started to become a bit shrivelled then luckily we had a downpour one evening with half an inch of rain which made a huge difference plus it meant no watering for a couple of days. I just knew earlier in the year when it was endlessly wet that we’d have a dry spell and would yearn for rain. it has been a maddening year weatherwise but maybe I say that every year.

The garden is full, as always, of verbena bonariensis which attracts the bees and butterflies. Soon the asters will be flowering and it will look different again.