What do gardeners do when it rains?
Gardeners are well weathered people and able to cope with the UK's precipitous climate. Rain is a gardeners friend - it helps the plants grow! As long as plants are growing a gardener has work. Rain is part of a meteorological balance of energies - it typically rains when rain is needed.
What work can a gardener do in the rain?
Good gardeners have an intimate knowledge of the gardens they look after. They know which plants need pruning and when. When it rains, a gardener can choose to do pruning rather than digging or mowing. This is one reason why flexible customers will always get priority as preferred customers. A gardener will know which customers have pruning work that could be completed from hard standing/paving during wet weather.
Wear waterproof clothing
They say that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Skiing doesn't make you cold because you are active and dressed appropriately. Likewise, gardeners will have appropriate water-proof clothing to enable them to continue working when it rains. Gardeners choose clothing materials that are quick drying and breathable. Spare clothing, spare gloves, a waterproof hood, summer and winter hats etc are all part of a professional gardeners PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).
Plan for regional variations in the weather
The local climate can vary from coast to coast. Many gardeners focus their services accordingly. For example, gardeners in wet and windy areas may focus on pruning trees, shrubs and repairing fences damaged by strong winds. In drier areas, gardeners may need to focus on plants that can cope well in drought conditions or dry, salty sea breezes and sandy soils!
Work with, not against, seasonal weather
It is very rare that we have prolonged and persistant rainfall for more
than a few days in a row. It typically rains the most when regular lawn
mowing has stopped or is less frequent i.e Late autumn, winter or early
spring. Gardeners can easily work around this. If it rains during the
growing season, the ground will likely dry out quickly and work can
continue. Most other gardening work can continue even if it is raining.
Let your gardener manage your garden and decide what work is done and
when. They will work with the weather and the seasons and plan the work
accordingly. Work is more likely to be done at the right time when you let
your gardener manage the work load. Remember, doing the right job at the
right time usually coincides with when the weather is most appropriate to do
that task. See 'What do
gardeners do in the winter?'
Use professional tools
A professional gardeners tools are more powerful, stronger and better able to cope with adverse conditions i.e. long wet grass. They are also regularly maintained and blades kept sharp.
Lawn mowing in the rain?
It is not unusual to see lawn mowing on wet days. This is not done
unthinkingly!
- Lawns with long grass and sodden soils will be avoided.
- Lawn mowing in wet conditions is usually avoided because wet grass can
gather on the blades and tear the grass rather than cut cleanly.
- The
heavy mower could also compress sodden soil in unsightly ways.
However, good gardeners have an intimate knowledge of the gardens they look
after.
- Well drained lawns may be given a very light cut on a higher cut
setting so that the lawn looks neat and the mower is much less likely to
clog or pull the roots.
- They know which lawns grow faster after rain
and will need to be given a light cut to help them dry quicker and stay
manageable (see Good time management during wet weather).
- They know
which lawns are on clay soil or rocky soil.
- They know which lawns will
be waterlogged and which lawns drain quickly.
- A professional mower has
many height settings. A gardener may raise the cutting height temporarily so
the lawn looks neat until dry weather returns when the cutting height can be
reduced again.
- It is not unusual for large lawns to be managed in this
way. For example, professional football pitches are well maintained and
cared for despite the football season running throughout the winter. They
are mowed regularly and receive heavy use.
How weather predictions affect gardening work
Some customers listen to the national weather forecast, hear that rain is
forecast and cancel their gardener. Most gardeners work in an area apx 10
square miles. Even if rain is predicted for your county, it doesn't mean it
will rain in your part of the county! It isn't raining until it actually
starts raining.
There is a big difference between 'rain' and
'showers'. Rain is a heavy and persistant downpour. Showers are sporadic and
may dry out quickly or even miss you completely.
Good time management during wet weather
A good gardener is a busy gardener. Gardeners may have to restrict regular customers to 3 or 4 days a week to give their diary some flexibility. By leaving one or two days a week spare for irregular work, they have flexibility to rebook that irregular work if they need the time slot to make up for regular maintenance commitments that are disrupted by wet weather. Gardeners will do the work they know they can do despite the weather - so they haven't got as much to catch up on when the weather improves.
Let the gardener decide
As you can see from this article, a gardener can work in wet weather and
many tasks can continue. The decision to work may also be affected by the
time of year, your plants, the layout of your garden, whether it is rain or
showers, your soil type and many other factors!
However, it is the
extent of the wet weather and type of work that matters. A gardener may
decide that they don't want their tools exposed to rain but are happy to
work as soon as the rain stops. They may decide that the ground is too
slippery to work or that they won't risk using a ladder but are happy to
work at ground level. A good gardener
will know what should be done and be responsible. A good customer will be
flexible so that the gardener can manage their time to ensure that
everything gets done in a timely and efficient manner.
