We've just had another thunderstorm, our third consecutive early evening this has happened this week and unusual enough to comment upon, I think. They haven't been that lively but have contributed a "usable" amount of rain for the garden.

I'm pleased I'd taken to using three-quarters of the water in the butts each morning, as they've ended up full again by the end of the day and it's a shame to let it go to waste. I don't know if it will help - time will tell - but I've given each shrub at least a couple of can's full, hoping I can top-up the groundwater levels around them, against another dry spell. It's something a horticultural friend of mine suggested, given that larger plants, with deeper roots, tend to rely on winter rainfall totals to see them through much of the summer, at least in this part of the country.

Even if I'm mistaken, it makes me feel I might be doing something to help.

- Tom
Blackmore, SW Essex