It can be difficult to know what to do in your garden after so much rain. When the Chopwell team are asked, our usual answer is ‘as little as possible’.
Clay and drainage
Large parts of Warwickshire are on clay, which is nutrient rich but slow to drain. You may have puddles in your garden or a swampy lawn. If so, keep off grass and beds as your steps will compact the soil making it more difficult to drain and for plants to flourish later in the year. If you have to tread on soil put down boards to spread your weight and reduce compaction.
Plants in pots
We spend most of the year encouraging you to keep watering and prevent pots drying out. After so much rain, the opposite applies, make sure your pots can drain, put pots on feet, take away plant saucers and cover plants with fleece to protect them from the worst of the storms.
Gutters, drains, water butts
Water butts will be full, if they are attached to down pipes, make sure future rain goes down through the pipe rather than overflowing the water butt.
Check gutters and drains are flowing properly, the rain may have washed debris into them and be preventing proper drainage.
Signs of spring
Even after so much rain the signs of spring are showing, with carpets of early bulbs such as snowdrop, crocus and aconite. The daffodils are growing well and tulips are starting to show their first shoots too. It is easy to forget where bulbs are growing later in the year when their foliage has died back and easy to disturb them when you see a potential ‘space’ for a new plant. If bulbs are where you want them, leave them alone and they will spread and multiply in the coming years. If they are in the wrong place, mark them with a stick so you can move them after flowering to where you want them.
