Gardens have gone mental

Picture: Small hedge planted at a nursery school in Reading to add colour and clean up a mud patch

With the brilliant weather over the last 6 weeks, it is inevitable that the rain must come - and didn't it!

In the winter, we expect bad weather and plan jobs where it doesn't matter if it rains, you just get on with it - but in the summer it's a nightmare. You cannot cut grass in heavy rain. You cannot re-point patios or treat decking.

I have had more rain - offs this last week than all over the winter. We have part finished jobs waiting for sunshine and grass is growing like wild fire - as I look out of my window, my grass will take the best part of the morning to sort.

Anyway, we have been very busy - we have actually been planting hedges and fencing as well as the normal grass cutting etc. Hedges also have gone a bit mental and we have done a few trims too - one particularly bad one over at Peasemore which was just a jungle - now tamed of course.

As to other jobs coming up, we are flat out on turfing and this rain has been good for that so I cant really complain - but I so hate wearing waterproofs when its so humid - its like having your own personal sauna all day.

Bit short on pictures as I keep forgetting to take the camera - note to self - put camera in the car!

Interestingly, at the job pictured above, we found a whole colony of Stag Beetles in a rotten tree trunk - I have not seen one since I was a kid - we left them well alone as it was a pleasure to see them. Funnily, my helper ran a mile as he thought things like that were in horror movies only!