Weather Conditions - Visual signs

Some waterlogged areas can sit for ages

You probably won’t agree with me but I think it’s great we have a winter this year. 

Wind, freezing temperatures, rain all contribute to the health of the garden eventually and I find that the weather is usually worse when you are looking at it through the window instead of being out in it.

It might not feel it at the time and sometimes nature gets a little bit enthusiastic which can undo some of the hard work we have put into the soil and plants. Sunshine and drought can be just as damaging in the summer but it’s easier for us as we can at least get a tan as we try to keep the lawn from turning brown. 

Let’s have a look at what the winter weather can do to the garden:

Heavy rain: Tends to affect the top of plants with rain damage breaking delicate shoots and flowers. However it is soil saturation and flooding that causes most harm.

Frost: Also tends to affect the top of plants where the freezing is most intense. Lower leaves and areas inside the leaf canopy are less affected. Frost can damage plants randomly in an affected area with some plants losing buds, foliage, flowers and fruits and others being unaffected.

Snow: As well as freezing damage, mechanical damage is caused by the weight of snow breaking branches, especially on hedging.

Hail: Causes bruising and abrasion and occasionally defoliation or loss of fruits. Hail causes tiny scars on young leaves and fruits that become very noticeable as the plants develop. Hail damage mainly affects the top of plants. We’re lucky here, in Australia where my brother lives the hail goes through car windscreens and knocks people out.

High winds: Cause damage to the upper and windward sides of plants. In severe cases plants can be uprooted. Windy weather also dries out leaves leading to browning, scorching and loss of buds, flowers and leaves.

Flooding: Soil filled with water contains too little air for plant roots to thrive. In winter when plant roots are dormant they can survive quite long periods of flooding, but in summer when the water demand of roots is high, even short periods of a few days can be fatal.

I thought we could take a closer look at flooding as it’s top of the list of problems in the garden at the moment.

Tackling Flooding Short Term

• After flooding, wash down hard surfaces and collect up debris to prevent drains blocking, soil surfaces being covered, and pollutants or contaminants lingering in the garden. Wear gloves and overalls to minimise contact with pollutants
• Keep off the soil until it is workable, to avoid compacting it and worsening the conditions
• Remove damaged shoots from affected plants
• After flooding, edible crops near to harvest are best not eaten: no assurances can be given that root crops will be safe to eat, so they should be discarded. Plants eaten raw should be discarded too, and it is prudent to avoid growing salads and other uncooked crops for  a while.
• Mulch with as much organic matter and apply compost over the root area after application
• Water well in dry spells after a waterlogged period, as plants will be more susceptible to drought stress as their softer roots could have been damaged.

Tackling Flooding Long Term

• Improve soil structure and drainage by adding even more well-rotted manure and compost, especially if the flooding was so bad that topsoil was washed away.
• Avoid smearing the sides of planting holes on heavy soils as the clay forms an impermeable barrier. It’s how large ponds and lakes are made!
• Consider planting trees on a slight mound, this will give the younger roots a bit of a breather in really wet weather.
• Grow plants in raised beds
• Choose permeable surfaces when laying drives, paths and patios to allow rain to soak in. Concreting the environment is said to be one of the biggest reasons for urban flooding.
• Roofs converted into living green roofs absorb storm water and release it slowly, but do get very heavy.
• If there is somewhere for water to go, drainage can be installed. Or, where appropriate, it may be worth digging out a ditch or seasonal pond at the lowest part of the garden to catch surplus water and let it soak in slowly.
• Choose trees and plants that are well suited to wetter soils if flooding is an annual occurrence.

Water Kefir Grains

What to do when the weather is just too wet to go outside and garden?  

It’s always a bit of a dilemma finding things to do in the house as you might start to notice the cobwebs that are slowly covering the wall edges in the kitchen that need clearing away.  Even worse you might realise that the walls need painting and there’s a host of other DIY jobs that need doing, not to mention the bowl full of dishes or piles of laundry that need doing. 

You could always try and finish off the bottles of booze that have been left over from Christmas and New Year, which will at least take your mind off things that need doing for a few hours. But if you are like me and have nothing left over from the festive period apart from bits of sellotape stuck to the walls and a pair of socks, then how about having a play with some Water Kefir grains?  

“What are Water Kefir Grains “?  

This is what I asked my mother in law only this time last week and now it seems, I am now the kefir master of the house. It’s not hard as this stuff grows on its own and as yet is only asking for sugar to help it ferment.  It’s very similar the Kombucha sweetened fermented tea that’s doing the rounds now and like Kombucha, there are a multitude of health benefits claims.

Kefir Grains

You can get Irish Moss plants which are not Irish and also not a moss. Kefir grains likewise are not ‘grains’ as such, they are a mixture of bacteria and yeast living together in symbiosis to produce loads of probiotics, probably something similar to a fungi. 

The mixture is called a culture and there are different types, some of them are happy to be fed by goat, sheep or cows milk. I have now got a bowl of the type that like just water and sugar.  

The grains resemble the water absorbing granules that you can add to soil (or get from nappies) and multiply quickly when added to a linen covered bowl of sugar water. These are left for a couple of days to ferment and then the grains are sieved off leaving the liquid to be flavoured with anything you fancy. I am choosing ginger and lemon simply because I have these ingredients in the house. If it’s anything like wine you could flavour it with a mint like I did once, or even an old boot (did anyone really do that?)  The resulting mix can be drunk a couple of days later after it’s been decanted into airtight glass bottles. 

Alcoholic

The resulting drink is slightly fizzy after the yeast has been to work and also it turns out, slightly alcoholic. I don’t think its cause for concern with non-drinkers though as the amount of alcohol present is slightly less than eating over ripe fruit.

Friendship Cake

I remember something called a ‘Friendship Cake’ culture that did the round years ago (It’s probably still out there somewhere and its name is Herman – that’s true) It contained yeast and lactic acid and the idea was/is to make your cake and then as it multiplies, pass half of it on to a friend (or son in law) I got so fed up of the stuff I think I ended up putting it in the compost bin. 

 If the amount being produced gets too much of a good thing kefir liquid can be used for cooking apparently but I’m not really sure what you would add it too, maybe it’d make the buns rise.   

The good thing about the Kefir culture though is you can ‘switch it off’ so to speak. Just like the water absorbing granules, you can lay these grains out and dry them off over a few days. They will then keep for six months which is more than enough time to rekindle your enthusiasm for drinking sugar filled fermented drinks. 

If you are interested in setting yourself up with a bowl you could buy the culture off ebay for €1.30 a spoonful (yes you heard me, this probiotic lark is a huge money earner!)  Or you can pop around to my house and I’ll fill up a jar for you for nothing. Be quick though, when it stops raining I’m heading for the compost heap.

Roadway Landscapes - (probably the biggest horticultural design projects ever)

                                                    Points of interest on the roads to keep us aware

Have you noticed a lot of councils are keeping the grass verges along main roads uncut nowadays? 

The grass might be cut once or twice a year leaving wild flowers to flourish and keeping down shrubs and trees that might try and grow.  

The area directly near the road up to 1 metre or more is usually cut often to stop any grasses from bending into the road when it’s wet but the rest is left to grow on. It’s a great idea both in terms of biodiversity and also cost to the taxpayer.  This isn’t where the attention to detail stops for road planners though. You might be surprised to learn that their influence can stretch to the horizon you see from the road. 

Highway landscape planning is a hidden gem that doesn’t generally get any recognition. It’s an important aspect of landscape design on par with the likes of Lancelot Brown (Capability Brown) who designed around 170 parks on the 1700’s. Lancelot took into consideration all of the details in a landscape from the foreground to the horizon and replicated nature with focal points of interest. This type of design did have its critics and comes in and out of fashion, some say it was just like designing a field but there’s more than just pitting in a hedgerow to look nice. 

When land is developed it could change the existing ecology such as wildlife, flora well as the aesthetic, visual and the non-visual attributes of the landscape so it’s important for the designers to do a lot of research and attempt to keep a lot of the natural features intact without the need for protestors to live in trees to highlight fragmenting the countryside.

The aim of the landscape designer is to design treatments that will develop into self-sustaining habitats that do not present a future hazard to the road user or require the use of fertilizer, general broad-leaved herbicides and frequent cutting or mowing regimes.

Points of interest

A good planner will make sure that certain factors stay in a road designs. Keep the view interesting and varied including things such as lit up local landmarks and variying tree lines. Even adding distant mountains and seascapes creates a varied backdrop. 

The View from the Vehicle

The two fundamental types of views are the ʻpanoramaʼ and the ʻvistaʼ. A panorama refers to a broad view with a good vantage point, while a vista refers to a framed view e.g. a view restricted by bounding margins such as trees.

The relationship between the driver and passenger within the vehicle, and the roadside landscape is more complex than the relationship between a person who is viewing the landscape from a stationary position; the mobile road user views many more features and landscape types as they move along a road corridor so this type of landscaping is totally different to how you would view the garden from a kitchen window.

Certain features of the landscape can only be viewed at particular speeds. All views are restricted or bounded by the confinements of the vehicle structure, while at the same time being framed or blocked by vegetation, buildings and other infrastructure along with elements of the natural terrain.

A lot of thought has gone into designing todays road networks. The designers don’t always get it right , here are just a few considerations they need to look at just on the grass verge. This is even before any consideration ois given to the wider landscape.

Key Issues for the Immediate Roadside Verge

• The verge should be of the minimum width required to provide for its safety and design functions, which include the provision of sightlines and the accommodation of signs and lighting columns.
• The verge should function as an environmental and physical buffer between the road and the wider landscape.
• Appropriate treatments should aim to establish a robust, low maintenance grass sward.
• The verge should be maintained to a minimum width with minimum input of natural resources such as fertilizer.
• The treatment should not prove attractive to fauna as this could cause a hazard.
• Medium, wildflowers small trees, hedges, signage, drainage lighting are included here.

This is just for the first couple of metres of the grass verge, we then get to the wider verge area which can be used for attracting wildlife, include large signs and go some way to help correct the defragmentation of the land after the road was built.

If like me you take an interest in these types of matters (I’m a bit of a roadside anorak) you can read the (riveting) 175 page Irish Roads Authority document titled  “A guide to Landscape Treatments” which covers a wide range of conditions that go to make a safe and interesting roadside experience .