Gardening: Garden work is never done

No sooner is the spring-cleaning finished, than it’s time to prepare container plants for summer; and then autumn, and winter, and spring yet again. What goes around comes around and that’s the way with gardening

The big problem with summer is that people go on holiday – which means that plants are usually left to fend for themselves. You can pack off the family pet to catteries and the canine equivalent, but plants in pots tend to stay put.

So, if you are a serious gardener and you have lots of plants in containers, it will probably pay you to invest in a watering system. Small pipes are laid around the garden and even smaller offshoots lead off into individual pots. While you’re enjoying the heat of the Mediterranean, your plants are enjoying the English ‘summer’ and are guaranteed a regular watering.