Keep tabs on everything!

There is almost too much going on out there, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

I LOVE the summer, I love our garden in the summer and I love gardening in summer but sometimes it can feel like fighting fires all over the place.

Weeds here, pests there, a few ailing plants dotted around the place – and that’s even before we get anywhere near the ongoing (at the time of writing) worries about drought and water use.

I have been watering our raised beds, containers and growbags most days, giving everything a good soak, but the water either slides off the surface (see panel, below) or barely sinks in.

Dig into the soil and it’s as dry as the desert a few inches below the surface.

The one silver lining of the drought is the absence of slugs and snails, which means that while our annuals may be wilting, at least they aren’t being chomped by molluscs!

As well as causing plants to wilt, dry container compost also inhibits their ability to take up all the nutrients necessary for healthy growth.

Despite being topdressed with fresh compost and fertiliser at the start of the season, the leaves of our potted hydrangea are going yellowy-green between their veins, a sign of nutrient deficiency caused by drought.