Post-holiday action plan

Prioritise what will keep your garden on track

- Ruth Hayes

WE have returned from a fortnight away and in the space of 14 days the garden (dutifully watered by younger family members in our absence) has been transformed.

On the plus side, it looks like it is going to be a bumper year for fruit and veg thanks to the warm start to summer and diligent watering.

The negative is that the heat and a few heavy showers had given our plot a bad case of ‘jungle-itis’, and in the space of two weeks everything has grown like it’s on steroids, including the weeds.

My first bit of post-holiday advice is to take a deep breath, make a cuppa and work out what jobs need prioritising.

More pressing tasks include clearing away dead bedding to make room for more plants, weeding, staking tall varieties before they break, and harvesting crops that will continue to produce right through the summer.