Celebrity TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin has described midsummer droughts as a 'great gift' for gardeners.
A pause in the garden's rhythm
Gavin, who has just finished filming the latest series of Greatest Gardens, says that during a prolonged drought, the whole rhythm of the garden changes. Growth slows almost to a standstill, and weeds stop racing ahead. The endless cycle of staking, trimming, pruning and mowing is interrupted, making midsummer resemble mid-winter in some ways.
He explains that this pause gives gardeners an opportunity to see their gardens afresh. In his own garden in County Wicklow, he spent a week cutting, clearing, lifting and rediscovering parts he had almost forgotten existed.
Rediscovering the garden
Gavin found that a magnificent Cornus controversa had lowered its branches, obscuring the view beyond. Once he lifted the crown, two palms on different levels reappeared. At the far end, a silver birch had been overwhelming a Tetrapanax papyrifer, which had become distorted as it reached for sunlight.
He also reshaped old bay topiaries, thinned a weeping aspen, and transformed old griselinia hedges into elegant evergreen trees. Normally, nature rushes to reclaim bare soil, but during a drought, time seems to slow, allowing gardeners to stand back and consider possibilities.
Looking ahead
Gavin plans to gather 20 plants he has admired for a long time. He knows autumnal rain will eventually arrive and growth will begin again, but for now, he enjoys the luxury of time. 'Perhaps that is the great gift of a midsummer drought – the pause it creates. In that stillness, we begin to see things afresh,' he says.
