GARDENING

Luca's Garden

with Bridget Sudworth

‘WASTE NOT want not’ was the proverb voiced with greatest regularity in my childhood home. With parents born at the very beginning of the 20th century (not quite Victorians), it befell them to live through 2 world wars with all the attendant deprivations. Problem solving with any shortages that came their way was a pattern for life. Nothing was thrown away if it could be adapted or used in any other guise from its original purpose. Even in their late 80s (they both lived to their late 90s), they managed to devise a scheme for getting their bathwater into the veggie garden. (Showers were ‘modern concepts’ and although they later had one fitted, they hated it and rarely used it.)

Curiously, nothing has changed much, has it? Who knows? By the time you read this in September, it is quite possible that we shall be into a hosepipe ban because even after one cloud burst of great ferocity, the reservoirs and aquifers will actually take months of regular rain to fill up. In the meantime, get into the habit of saving your washing up water (especially if you use a plant based washing up liquid) and use buckets to prepare your veggies keeping the water you wash them in plus the water they are cooked in. Then target plants in order of importance - food plants first. And, with the immortal suggestion of Winston Churchill, just KBO because, actually, we can all probably manage by taking some logical steps to make the most of every drop.

Given that few gardeners will have anticipated the drought that we have endured, you will be caught on the hop with many plants that don’t like the dry shade. Make sure birds have water to drink and bathe in and food to make up the shortfall. And pick up all your apples (and everything else that is edible), use them - there will be shortages this coming winter with high prices.

On a more encouraging note, we are pleased to see that tough, funny and probing Charlotte Smith from Radio 4’s Farming Today, is lending her style on Countryfile to how farmers are responding to climate change. She is robust, though sympathetic, at making the point about changes that are not only favouring restoration of biodiversity but helping to maintain farming incomes. There are farmers out there who have been looking after their land for generations without being told to do so and without any recourse to government planning, most of which is slow to come and when it does, lacks profound understanding of what is required.

Those caring farmers have much better environments in their fields with more insects and bird/wildlife all of which adds to healthier soil. They have good high hedges filled with bird food and wide headlands with wildflowers that help insects and bats. Unlike Herefordshire, our former home, where they abound, headlands are not much in evidence in Somerset - correct me if I am wrong.

In the meantime, we have

Euonymus - waxy leaf. Sedum - drought resistant.

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from £334 heat. But it is very likely that plenty of them will be more resistant than you might think. Don’t waste water on lawns - they recover very quickly with very little moisture.

The accompanying photographs were all taken at St Michael’s Mount and are good examples of plants that will survive drought (and sea air!), and the following suggestions may help a little if you are seriously replanning your garden to cope with a pattern that may become more regular than any of us think - or indeed, want.

Plants with hairy leaves which deflect the sunlight, the waxy leafed succulents, plants with tiny skinny leaves (erigeron apparently grows out of pavements and stones - it has tiny leaves) and the silver leafed plants which are adapted to bright light are those that need less attention and cope better with drought. Well established plants will probably be okay having a good root structure and will recover but do attend to young fruit trees that may have been planted recently and any leafy favourites that evaporate water through the leaf surface.

And don’t forget that the poor old birds peck hard ground in vain for worms that have gone deep so they will welcome softer ground round your regular waterings and especially under the hedgerows (I told you to plant hedges!) where water evaporation is greatly lessened in the deep

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Aeonium. accomplished the impossible and pruned back the wisteria. I do have very ambivalent feelings about wisteria, it has to be said, and if I’ve killed it, sobeit! But it actually looks quite good. So good in fact, that we felt empowered to destroy it’s neighbour completely, this being what I suspect was an old, very woody viticella clematis that even after 3 years of hard pruning, was a tangled jungle of leaves with no flowers. Viticellas (pruning group 3) need to be cut right down to near ground level each year with one pair of strong shoots whereupon, come the following season, they will grow with huge vigour and freedom producing masses of blooms in late summer till the first frost kills them off. They grow high given the chance and will grace any small building or other tall shrub or small tree that has ceased to flower for the duration of late summer and early Autumn. Ours was living in a bed against the wall of the house along with a small leafed rose, possibly a Banksia Lutea, that put out shy yellow blooms where it found a peep hole, in late May. With roots still intact, chances are that the clematis will come back and meanwhile, the rose has got its act together and is busy sending out new shoots. This is a reassuring reminder that nature is always keen and ready-to-go given a chance.

Poor Luca has had great difficulty in adapting to the Hot Weather Routine - very early walks on the hill are delicious in the cool, followed by a long daytime sleep and village walk later on after his tea. The most difficult slot is the afternoon when his body clock still says that a walk is needed before tea - but this being the hottest time of the day, it is hard to convince him that going out in temps of 30°C is madness in a fur coat. Standing in the garden, lined up against a needy plant or tree, he gets showered with the hose which he actually seems to understand is helpful!

Fingers crossed that September can relieve us all of drought even if it is going to take months. It would also be handy if anyone in Westminster could take a note of what is going on generally (especially in the countryside where our food comes from and not just the supermarkets!) and instead of faffing about, make some sensible decisions by which we can all live more sustainably.

AND Down with Waste!

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Sandhurst Garden Design ‘Going for Gold’

The weekend of 5th and 6th August marked the return of Taunton Flower Show at Vivary Park which celebrated its 190th Year, and finally for Sandhurst Garden Design the opportunity to be able to build the show garden they had been planning for the last 3 years!

Their garden entitled ‘Time to Reflect’ was dedicated to the memory of both Julie’s and her husband Andrew’s mums, and former work colleague Stewart Anning. The inspiration for the garden design was to highlight how important our gardens and open spaces have been to us all especially over the last 2 years, for our well-being, mental health and in their own case, helping them to heal in their sanctuary. Julie said: “The weather for the buildup of the garden was extremely hot, as were the two days of the show, but it was brilliant to be back doing what we like to do best. There were many visitors to the show who came to say hello, and we were truly humbled by their lovely comments about the garden we had created.

I am delighted to say that our garden won a Large Gold Medal and the Western Daily Press Cup for the Best Show Garden, time now for a little rest!”

Julie Sandhurst of Sandhurst Garden Design. Julie’s garden entitled ‘Time to Reflect’ .

VINTAGE

Motorcycling with Rod Hann

BACK IN THE May edition I wrote of the 'Old Wives Tale' which says that for the period of the 18th to 21st March if the wind direction is from the east then we could expect a long and dry summer. Well so far that old saying is proving to be very accurate. To date we have indeed had a very dry summer and certainly very hot, in fact for me and many the temperatures have been too hot. Being British of course we are never satisfied with our weather and now we all desperately want rain for our gardens and to fill our reservoirs. I do however feel so sorry for those folks whose homes have been destroyed by wild fires, that is in our country and in many others. Perhaps we should take more notice of those old wives and the tales they told, now I wonder what they might say for the autumn and winter ahead.

Next I come to the events taking place during September. Starting with the Somerset Section they commence proceedings on the 1st with their club night at Cossington which will be a guest speaker. On the 4th will be the West Somerset Run which starts at the Willow Brook Garden Centre at Wellington and on the 29th to 2nd Oct. they have their Cornish Weekend. The Wessex Veteran and Vintage Section have a club meeting on the 12th and this will be a guest speaker, that takes place at Silton, next on the 15th they have their Autumn Leaves Run from Ansty and lastly they have Roger's Runaround from Henstridge. The Dorset Section are busy as usual starting with the Big Road Run which starts at Pamphill on the 4th, next on the 11th is the Last of the Summer Wine Run which starts at Hinton-St-Mary. Club night at Pulham on the 14th will be a guest speaker and on the 21st will be another Mid Week Run this time starting at Milton Abbas, and lastly on the 25th will be the Veteran and Vintage Run from Leigh Village Hall.

In addition I know that both the Wells and Westland Classic Clubs have a full calendar of events both riding and club nights.

As if that were not enough take note also that on the 10th and 11th the usual autojumbles will be taking place at Netley Marsh, near Southampton, and also at Beaulieu. Both of these are big events and worth a visit to look for those elusive parts you need.

It seems amazing that during September we have to start planning and booking dates for our events which take place during 2023. It's that time of year again when all clubs will be looking for organisers of events and volunteers are always sought. Do not rely on other folk doing all the organising for you. Go and see what you can do for your club to ease the burden on those members who regularly get involved for the benefit of all members. As always the more effort you put into these things then the more enjoyment you get in return.

Recently we held the Jeff Clew Memorial Run from the Haynes International Motor Museum. Jeff was a technical writer for Haynes Publishing and also a prolific writer of books on all matters concerning motorcycling and the prominent people involved in the industry. As usual Jeff's daughter Alison was in attendance to present the prizes. This year only 20 entrants took part which was rather disappointing but those who made the effort had a very good day.

One of those entrants was John Guy who lives in Hampshire. He rode a magnificent 1927 Magnet Debon, 350cc machine. The bike has been restored to perfection by John as he does for all his bikes. He won the Haynes Shield for the machine judged to be best overall. The bike is the subject of my photo this month.

Magnet Debon were a French company, based in Grenoble, who first started in 1906. They always made good quality machines often with innovative ways of doing things. For that reason they are always technically interesting to scrutinize. The company later merged with the firm of Terrot and continued motorcycle production up until 1958. Very few of these machines survive in Britain but many remain on the continent.

Well I must close now as I have to plan my autumn and winter riding schedule. My first stop will be Portland Bill to collect and consult the seaweed, I may even get new employment doing the long-term weather forecasts!

Perfectly restored 1927 Magnet Debon 350cc.

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