I am watering the allotment. Be careful with potatoes, and if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t water them in the evening, as I think that makes them more prone to a bit of frost damage. Watering at night also encourages slugs to come flooding in because of the moisture. Later in the season, this could really damage your potato crop unless you are growing Desiree.

Agree. My tomato plants are ready for planting out, but I’m worried about ground frost, so they will remain in the greenhouse for a minimum of 7 more days. Today I noticed some people had their potatoes zapped by ground frost, although I know they will recover in time. That’s not the case with tomatoes or cucumbers.

My lawn at the back has had a plague of leatherjackets this year that the starlings have been feasting on. The yellowed patches caused by the grass roots being eaten are only just beginning to recover. 

https://thedirt.news/landscape-designer-nigel-dunnett-dies/ 

I had the pleasure of working with him on the 2012 Olympic Park, the recent Battersea Power Station regeneration, and presently on the Grosevenor Square Park revamp. An inspiration to many and a decent chap to boot, he will be missed. 

You certainly did a great job in the Olympic Park. So much thought put into the beds to attract butterflies, bees and other insects. One of my greatest memories in recent years was walking along admiring those gardens on  the way to an event at the 2012 games. People were happily laughing and smiling and integrating with the diversity of people around. Then it was topped by an Emperor dragonfly actually landing on my arm!

I was lucky enough to have put a hand (spade) across the South Park, in particular the world gardens and 2012 meadows, which are still looking great now, albeit reverted from the display of golden annuals in 2012 to a more permanent perennial showing. The following year the park underwent its 'transformation' phase into a permanent public space, which meant removing much of the hard concourse and installing further soft landscaping, with the planting designed by Piet Oudolf; so to move from Dunnet, Hitchmough & Sarah Price to another heavyweight of the gardening world in such a short period of time was richly rewarding. 

You're right about the biodiversity too, the games hadn't even started when one of the resident ecologists identified a colony of rare spiders within the gardens. The canal and river network really helped in bringing in a wide range of wildlife in a very short period of time. Its amazing how quickly nature recovers when given a chance.  

I was also referring to the human diversity, with everybody getting on so well together. 😀

Oh yes, that goes without saying. 2012 seems like such a long time ago in that regard!

Not a good spring for gardners.

I've always found early may to be the most precarious time in the gardening year in that regard. Some quite severe Dew Frosts (is that a term?) can often sweep in unnanounced and cause real damage. When growing up my folks' garden had Matteucia, Osmunda and Gunnera planted en-masse, some years the display was wonderful but more often than not a May frost would burn off the tender growth leading to a scorched and stunted spring showing. Best of luck with your tomatos, i missed the boat this year for seed grown toms, unfortunately.

Agree. Planting out delicate plants in May requires careful planning and consideration. I never plant tomatoes before 1st May because of the risk of late ground frosts or strong winds, which can easily damage or throw the plants around.

This week we had a couple of days of really cold wind, and it was surprisingly chilly due to biting wind at night  when I took the dog out, I needed a cap and a thick coat.

Today the charts look a bit better in terms of temperatures for the second half of next week, so I may take the step and plant out on Monday if the models give the green light. I have nearly 80 plants that are more than ready and that’s a lot of tomatoes!

The other half has just zoomed off to get some asparagus. It's the season in Lincolnshire and we are addicted to it. I have half the garden down to "No Mow May" and have just given the other side a trim to keep it a good contrast. No need to pick anything up as it's been so dry clippings just disappear.

It's a great year for our cudweed. A "weed" we have come to like.

https://wildflowerfinder.org.uk/Flowers/C/Cudweed (Common)/Cudweed(Common).htm

I’ll give you a little tip regarding beetroot. I start minein tuns billed with compost about 20 cm deepand  in greenhouse. Fantastic germination. About three weeks later they are ready to plant out, and I no longer get gaps in the rows, which always used to annoy me. It works really well, and mine are going out tomorrow — they’re about 10 cm tall.

Today it was difficult to get the fork into the ground, so I had to wet it first. Absolutely pathetic — bone dry down to 30 cm when I was digging holes for the posts. Every year seems to be getting worse and worse, not to mention the cold and windy nights we’ve had. Can’t complain about the daytime temperatures though.

There's a Lincolnshire saying that you should plant your beans when you see the first drunk coming home from Boston Fair! Done! 😁

Boston May Fair to officially open in town centre

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyp43nvgzlo 

We just avoided a frost here with temps dropping to around 2c. Not unusual for early May but still viewed with incredulity and annoyance. It looks like being a chilly, breezy and damp week after today. 

Agree, its at least the third such spring since 2021. You're right, the cold dessication of tender spring growth is a sad sight to see. It was either 2021 or 2022 that my local hazel hedgerow defoliated after weeks of biting dry easterlies. Sunshine and showers on a clement south westerly throughout April and May is what we need. 

In my neck of the woods, potatoes, tomatoes and courgettes have already been completely zapped by frost. Last night even the grapes and figs took damage.

And yes, fruit growers do use water against frost  but it needs to be a very fine continuous mist, not a heavy spray. As the water freezes, it releases a small amount of heat, which helps keep buds and blossoms around 0°C and reduces severe frost burn. Timing and coverage are everything.

Watering your tender plants before the frost actuallly makes the problem worse as too much water or the wrong spray can make things worse, so timing and coverage are everything. See article below and in particular last para:

https://www.npiwaterstorage.com/misting-as-frost-protection/ 

Same here. Garden was spared at 1.4C but not the more exposed allotment. Went over there this morning to find all of my potatoes and everybody else's blackened and wilting. Gooseberries, raspberries ok. I don't have any courgettes but others that were in were wrecked completely. Interestingly one plot where the potatoes had only just come through were ok - maybe because the ground temp was marginally warmer and some trickle of radiation saved them. Luckily I've delayed planting out some stuff like runner beans and I brought cucumbers and tomatoes in last night.

My big concern for potatoes is that traditionally they will put up new shoots in 10-14 days time but I'm not so sure they will. The soil is bone dry which won't encourage new growth. If we water there is a danger that the damaged cells will just rot with the continuing cold of the next few days. I think I will wait till we get a warm spell then give them a good watering.

Full size image: https://postimg.cc/KkX4dnw9 

[img=https://postimg.cc/KkX4dnw9]https://postimg.cc/KkX4dnw9[/img]