too much rain, too little rain
It’s raining really hard again, a heavy rain complete with lightning bolts and earth shaking thunder. The air is too warm and holds onto a fragrance I can’t identify, something that doesn’t smell exactly like summer, but like an in-between season I haven’t experienced before.
This year’s was a rainy summer, not a garden’s favorite, that’s for sure, but it did ensure good water reserves for the foreseeable future.
If I had to choose, I’d say that plants can handle drought a little better than excessive rain, for the simple reason that a gardener can water when it is too dry, but a gardener can’t provide sunshine.
When the summer gets too wet two tasks take priority: draining excess water and providing fertilizer to replace the nutrients that have been washed away in the runoff.
A rainy season encourages the growth of luxuriant foliage, but makes plants hold off on blooming and setting fruit. Wet weather also creates a favorable environment for fungi, rusts and molds, and if the soil stays constantly soggy, it can encourage root rot. Prune and clean the garden beds religiously to allow good air movement around the stems and stake the lanky plants, which tend to grow sappy and fragile in the rain.
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