Dry weather spell 'brutal' for garden nursery

The owner of a garden nursery has branded the current dry weather spell as the most "brutal" gardening conditions he has experienced in 20 years.

Many of the perennials at Wildegoose Nursery, based near Munslow in Shropshire, have gone into early dormancy following a period of dry weather and a lack of rainfall this summer.

Jack Willgoss, nursery owner, said they had also faced visitor footfall, with on-site plant sales down by about half.

Speaking about some of the flowers at the site, he said he would expect to see "full flower, heavenly scent and lush green foliage" by now, but instead they were "pretty dead brown stems".

"You spend much of the winter and the spring trying to create this garden, trying to put together a beautiful picture," he explained.

"To see that just slowly sort of dying before your very eyes, just takes away any enthusiasm I have to garden."

Parts of England, including the West Midlands, are close to drought, according to the National Drought Group, which said the region was one of several areas in "prolonged dry weather".

According to the Met Office, drought tends to build up over time and can last from as little as a few weeks to several years, with rainfall so far this summer below average across the UK as a whole.

Willgoss said the plants at the garden nursery also hadn't been watered, due to one of the site's key values being environmentally sustainable.

But he added not all of his plants were struggling, such as the Scabious and Mallow flowers.

"I am very determined to never water this garden, it's never been watered in the nearly 15 years we've been here and that is because we try to garden on a sustainable footing," he said.

"The British Isles, we may not think it, but it's become an increasingly water-stressed nation."

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