jy

Adding to Mr Holmes post about location,here in Central Southern England with the exception of July it has been on the dry to very dry side since March with rainfall totals a good bit down on all the average monthly quotas. One thing has been the amount of windy days that there have been in itself not a problem,but as a gardener the dry plus wind plus warmth have given me many a headache in terms of just keeping gardens especially lawns in decent order It is ironic in many ways that Febs massive snow melt here got certain shrubs and especially hedges away to a flying start in fact hedge work in terms of cutting numbers has been way above average all year.

I have just changed my title from snowless to rainless Hampshire triangle,watching with interest the storm information quite often heavy rain has been not too far north of here but always just out of range.Our winterbournes have dried up early and although i keep no records,as a gardener I know that rainful totals here are woeful,quite how far below average I cannot be sure,but with grass taking on a yellow/white appearance and even established shrubs looking decidedly sad we certainly could do with some raifall now. What I find strange is that for about 6 days now this area has been forecast some form of rainfall from showers to longer spells of rain, Thursday being a classic case only to find just enough precipitation to dampen the pavements,cant work out how the forecasts not matching the reality.

At last some light rain here,everywhere here the ground like concrete with cracks appearing,as a gardener much as i appreciate how most love dry and sunny conditions for leisure ect gardens in this area in real need of rain,not meant to amount to much before a return to dry and settled conditions.

Again information only but Armillatox is now illegal but as a warning should you use it what happens is that it kills the ground around the infected area too so be careful

For information purposes only Sodium Chlorate isnt banned i have many 25kg bags of the stuff also round up bio last bit important far stronger than garden centre knats pee sad thing with most killer stuff now is that it is all weakened by law a few years ago one decent treatment of sodium chlorate wiped out weeds and almost anything else in its path for months not so now im afraid

Remember Mushy that privet like all hedging likes water early in the year to get it going the yew and lleylandii have made major growth here this year possibly due to snow melt cant be sure but one thing without question is true any privet,weakened by the sharp winter just gone renders it open to infection by Honey Fungus which of course can destroy a hedge tree or shrub ect

Would think lots of benefits firstly snow melt put lots of water into the systym meaning plants and hedges that thrive on good early year water supply got just what they wanted the cold delayed the early weed growth more usual in milder winters but did inhibit grass growth too also the fruit bloom wasnt formed during the colder frostier weather so with only 2 frosts here in april most fruits look to have formed without problem whereas last year a minus 2 at just the wrong time in mid april really hammered the pear and plum crops.

Yes nice pictures this winter was the best in 20 years here not a lot to beat but very nice surprise our strong point ie frosts hardly appeared since feb

Stewfox a veteran of many feb the 9ths like me well its been much colder here this winter and a sad toll has been taken .As stated many lavender have gone along with laverteria ceonothis perennial verbena and more besides. What i find though is that many designers when doing alleged cottage gardens now in the name of being different are planting things thst that are to say the least risky,helps make a reputation but leaves the customer out of pocket when the designer is long gone.

If I knew how to change my Hampshire no snow triangle location I would.This was the best winter in the 19 years ive lived here,it appeared business as usual when we missed the snow in Oct Nov and Dec.however,December was cold with a good number of frosts,additionally,a very early frost to start in mid october. In Jan it was cold again in parts but with frost and little or no snow,February was snowy with 8 days of lying snow not seen here as i say in 19 years, The rather odd thing is that we are frost prone here but will be near to normal frost numbers wise not even reaching 70 this largely due to few frosts in march and none to date in april,so was it the influence of a Hale winter or just right place right time for once,thats what makes it so interesting.

Am sure events while living in Kent years ago but this year in the now defunct Hampshire no snow triangle we had bouts of heavy snow which lay for 8 days something quite unique in my 19 years of living here,but for pure winter weather drama 28 01 04 takes some beating rain followed high winds followed by thunder and lightning followed by a whiteout quite incredible.

A homing pigeon lost :lol: surely its got sat nav has it forgotten where it lives

I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere and up here there are the usual suspects but the main core of birds are predators buzzards kestrals harris hawks sparrowhawks and occasional peregrine falcon however my favourite hunts at night the beautiful barn owl

Its a shame that I cant move the chart to here but 9/2/1950 max temps about minus 100 now I know why I like snowy cold weather its in the genes :lol:

Yes snow here in Hampshire overnight probably about 2 to 3 inches hasnt been like this for years if only i knew how to get rid of the Hampshire no snow triangle sign on my location

An unexpected snowfall here in Hampshire this morning seems like the last 19 winters have turned up this year

Good to see my old stamping ground Biggin Hill is getting some snow im too far west this time but enjoy it

no proper snow on your birthday stewfox same here on mine

Note we share a birthday tomorrow Stewfox all the best I think your special delivery snow ouweighs my rain

It doesnt play for me maybe my PC setup not condusive

I would just like to say that a few years ago a similar situation arose,a Channel Low was forecast dire warnings were given out ie dont travel,take a hot drink and a shovel if you do type of thing and the south of england awoke to dry pavements the low slid off at the last minute into France,all that i am asking is could it possibly happen again or is the setup now close enough to treat as near gospel,You see ,only the other daythere was a siuation where this part of the world was expecting rain as per the forecast and for a short while thats what we got then due to unforecast frontal movement we had snow for many hours. Just out of interest,does anyone remember the non event date regarding my opening remarks?

Lovely pictures,im 3 miles from East Dorset,10 miles South Of Wiltshire so have got some of both counties weather plus my own in Hampshire seventh day of proper lying snow here quite remarkable for this area.

I am 10 miles south of wiltshire lovely snow cover all day and its just started to ........................................................................... RAIN mind you yesterday it was meant to rain and it......................snowed so for tonight heads it will snow tails it will rain :lol:

well stormforce your guess is as good as mine lunchtime weather showed about 6 hours of snow from the early hours just looked at bbc online showing snownearly everywhere except where you and i live so spin a coin time i think