Watch out for drought as it can be a real killer at this time of year. After coming out the other side of a long, wet winter, it's easy to sit back on your laurels when dry weather comes but in fact, especially now with lots of young seedlings with shallow root systems in the ground, you can't drop your guard.
It doesn't take much early summer sunshine to dry unprotected soil and shrivel anything within the top few centimetres to a crisp. And you don't have to have hot, sunny weather to go short of water as any lengthy spell without any rainfall puts your plants at risk.
Trap in the spring rain as insurance against drought by keeping your soil topped up with a mulch of compost, newspaper, or even grass clippings. If you need to water, target the most vulnerable plants: these include seedlings, new transplants and anything that's flowering or fruiting. Ridges of soil heaped up alongside plant rows also hold water where it's needed.
And remember to save whatever rainwater comes your way. We've got a great range of water butts in our garden centre here in Hereford so choose the largest you can, or link several together for real five-star water saving efficiency.
