The drought was really hard on the garden and especially the grass- it doesn’t really deserve the term  ‘lawn’ ! The green bits mostly went brown and the weeds did better than the grass. The only saving grace as far as Ben was concerned was that it didn’t really grow, and so there was no mowing! Now we have had a little bit of rain ( I am still watering most of the garden) there has been some growth, but there are plenty of dead patches where the thatchy old growth and moss took over and then died.

So, the usual advice is to scratch up the brown bits with a rake, re-seed and then wait for the gaps to fill in. Nice idea except for two issues. Firstly the size of the task ( given then sheer size of my plot) and the fact that it is boring. I’m afraid that gardening as maintenance is not my idea of fun. I remember Monty Don once saying that if you want to enjoy your garden you should do as much as possible of what you do like and as little as possible of what you don’t. Lawn- care is not my idea of fun.

Secondly, even if I did like lawn care it would truly be a waste of effort, as every day I come out to new holes in the lawn and scratched up areas, curtesy of the badgers and rabbits.

Ok so perhaps the badgers are secret guerrilla gardeners and are attempting to cover a task that they know I’m unlikely to get around to any time soon- but I rather think not :-).

I am working hard on not being cross with them and not being ‘precious’ about my garden, although I do allow myself the odd grumble when they actually dig up newly planted areas! I like having the wild animals share my garden and I know that I must expect the odd bit of damage. Perhaps I need to think about better boundaries, especially nearer to the house, where the animal damage is more visible. Maybe another day when I have run out of jobs that I like :-).