It won't stop raining - so I am weatherproofing my garden

Protecting the plot from extreme weather is one of the main challenges gardeners face today.

The other day when I meant to do some gardening but is was raining so hard (again) that I didn't, Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin' popped into my head. It's been my earworm ever since. Dylan may have been singing about change of a different kind, but the first verse especially is so very relevant to the drenching we've had these past weeks. Have a listen.

 

So when the rain finally eases and eventually the overly saturated ground recovers, I will not forget how bad it has been. We've been lucky in so far as it's just the garden that's taken a battering, but you know things are changing when the Environment Agency talks about "unknown weather extremes" of the future. Unless you happen to be too busy holidaying in Barbados, it's time to take a fresh look at how we do things. Our gardening practices also need to be adapted, to become nore resilient in the face of climate change.

 

I called a meeting with myself to discuss this - it was less Cobra, more, er, Hippo, with the amount of mud and flooding the garden has had to contend with recently. I'll admit I was much more prepared for warmer extremes than I was for flooding. My water butts, which filled to the brim when the rain started months ago, will come in useful - just not quite yet.

 

To get a handle on where to start, I fist spoke to organic vegetable producers, Alicia Miller and Nathan Richards of Troed y Rhiw farm who live near to me in a still rather soggy West Wales. They are used to farming around the changing weather, but these past few months have been something else. Alongside losing four of their polytunnels in the gales, their winter carrot and parsnip crops have been ruined entirely by the waterlogged soil.

The couple have lots of plans in place to provide better protection for their plot in the future, but one of the most effective things you can do, Nathan says, is to cover any bare soil over winter. "Green manures are best as they also put something back but even weeds are better than nothing as they provide some protection against the extremes." 

 

As a wilder sort of gardener, I don't meticulously tidy and clear away at the end of the growing season, so this should afford some protection to my soil. I also mulch with compost, which helps with moisture absorption. Yet, with the sheer volume of rain we've experienced these past months I'm wondering what nutrients may have been washed away. It's a worry.

As I was mulling this over, I got wind of some new research by scientists at Sussex University revealing the extent to which neonicotinoids are causing huge problems for pollinators. These pesticides don't just stay in the crops that are treated with them, but make their way into hedgerows and wildflowers nearby. I wondered how the recent flooding and subsequent water runaway may make the situation even worse, so I asked the Soil Association who supported the study.

Louise Payton, the Soil Association's policy officer told me that flood waters are also playing a huge role in spreading harmful agricultural chemicals. "Scientists have no idea what these cocktail mixtures may be doing to wildlife - just like mixing your medicines, the combined effect of many different pesticides in water courses, soils and hedgerows could be powerful and deadly."

 

So that's something else to worry about till these dangerous pesticides are finally banned.

 

For now, I've decided to turn my attention back to positive actions I can take this year to weather proof my veg patch. There are obvious solutions, such as planting extra trees, more mulching with compost and adjusting how I plant in the areas of the garden I now know are liable to flooding. But over the coming months I want to play with more adventurous possibilities, in the hope of strengthening the resilience of my garden and food production for whatever exactly it is that lies ahead.