FEATURE: OUTDOOR LIVING
JOIN US FOR SOLEX 2023 - A CELEBRATION OF SUMMER
Happy days! Spring has sprung and SOLEX is on the horizon.
S FEATURE: GARDEN FOCUS A PROLONGED DRY SPELL WAS INEVITABLE
We’ve had a few April showers so far this month, but has it really been enough rain to fill the water butts and top up the reservoirs after last year’s long hot summer? Our resident gardening expert, Graham Paskett doesn’t think so, plus he has ‘Murphy’s Law’ to contend with as well, as he explains…
I
believe in ‘Murphy’s Law’, a British cultural axiom identifying the probability that if something can go
wrong, it almost certainly will. And it has struck again. We have recently experienced some minor damp problems in an outhouse and I traced the source to an area behind the water butts. I said, jokingly, to my wife as I emptied them, “This’ll precipitate a drought.” This is when Murphy stepped in to oblige. The last drip of precious rainwater from the second butt hadn’t reached the drain when the sun came out. We have not had a single drop of water since then.
28 DIY WEEK APRIL 2023
Now, if that isn’t Murphy’s Law at work – what is? Anyway, I moved the empty butts
and treated the cause of the damp before putting them back. And there they sit, bone dry. The trouble is that we have a lot of azalea and rhododendron plants in containers and they, of course, prefer soft rainwater to the treated stuff from the tap. They will simply have to get used to it until it rains again and fills the butts. The greenhouse and outside staging are now full of flowers and vegetables at various stages of growth from seedlings to those waiting to be planted out when the danger of frost has passed – probably mid- August if Murphy has anything to
do with it. So, to cope, the alarm is set 40 minutes earlier so I can get on with the watering in advance of the normal pre-office work schedule. I had forgotten just how deep my
hatred of hosepipes runs through my veins. If they can twist, form an impenetrable nest and manage to identify my most precious plant or favourite pot – and knock it to the ground where it ends in pieces – the wretched thing will.
At least I have sorted out the
perennial problem of the spray head flying off the hose and soaking yours truly with an amazing piece of kit called a Qwickhose attachment. But my loathed morning use of the hose has to continue as the mercury in the thermometer is up and down like a
OLEX – The Summer Outdoor Living Exhibition organised by the industry for the industry.
Monday 10th –
Wednesday 12th July 2023 | Hall 5 - NEC, Birmingham
SOLEX is your opportunity to
energise your business and tap into new products and innovations from all the best brands in the business in a relaxed and ambient atmosphere. Breeze through the spacious aisles meeting suppliers, catching up
with old friends and colleagues, then take a break and
experience
exquisite barbecue cuisine prepared by experts in the ‘Loving Outdoor Living Zone.’
Register now for SOLEX 2023 for your chance to win a £200 Virgin Experience Days Voucher or a Fortnum & Mason’s Summer Picnic Box.
Register online at: https://www.
solexexhibition.com/register-for- solex-2023-the-summer-outdoor- living-exhibition.
yoyo. The good thing is that my old greenhouse – circa mid 1950s – leaks like a sieve and automatically waters most of the plants for me in a good rainstorm, so the hosepipe can be left to distort itself in yet even more unfathomable knots. I say, roll on the rain but then, of course, Murphy will ensure that it doesn’t stop for weeks. Hey ho. Happy gardening!
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