IT'S official now: we have had the best summer on record. Not just the highest temperatures, but the most hours of sunshine. We have even outdone the oft-quoted year of 1976.

I laid my first lawn that year. There was a water shortage and a hosepipe ban (I was living in Kent at the time), which made the process rather tricky. I remember saving every single drop of 'grey water'. The soil was heavy clay, and it had turned into an iron pan.

It was a mammoth task preparing the soil, digging over and breaking up the rock-hard clumps, made worse because it was all done under oven temperatures. As each sod of turf went down, it was lovingly but sparingly drizzled with slightly soapy, already twice-used water. It took though, and grew into a fine, strong lawn. Just when it was reaching maturity, we moved.

I can vouch that the ground is once again hard. The wicket at last Sunday's charity cricket match against Emmerdale (which the Radio Cleveland all-stars team only lost by the slimmest of margins) was crumbling away at the creases. It offered good turning opportunities for the tweakers, mind - I clean bowled Reverend Ashley with a beautiful little off-spinner - but many of us came off the pitch with scrapes, friction burns and bruises as a result of diving on the unforgiving outfield.

The relentless high temperatures haven't been all bad for the gardener. Despite having to get the hosepipe and watering cans out more often, we have been able to grow some of the trickier or temperamental plants.

I had grown some cannas last year in my summerhouse. They did all right in there, nothing spectacular, but all right. There is no heating, but it gets warm enough to grow tender plants from spring through to autumn. Usually, though, the temperatures drop too low in winter, and any severe cold snap kills off anything left in there, and that is what had happened with the cannas.

Thinking that the plant had died, I stuck the pot round the back of the garage and forgot about it. There must have been a spark of life left though, as the long warm summer has brought it back to life. I have left it outside on the patio, still in the same pot, and it is now rewarding me with a glorious display of large exotic blooms.

Other slightly tender plants such as the chocolate cosmos, osteospermum, agapanthus, abutilon, hibiscus and even banana have had the opportunity to show us what they can do. Usually they struggle through winter and spring, put on a meagre show for summer and collapse in autumn.

So often we are taught to only plant the right plant in the right place. That doesn't only mean making sure that you plant shade-loving plants in sun-deprived areas, or water-loving plants in moist soil, but also indicates that you should avoid attempting to grow sub-tropical South American plant species in northern England. It's fun to try though, and once in a blue moon (or extended heat wave) you will enjoy the success of defeating the textbooks.

JOBS THIS WEEK

Water camellias

CAMELLIAS will be starting to produce flowering buds for next year. If they don't get sufficient water from now on, they are likely to suffer from bud drop just in winter. Keep them plump by dosing them once a month with an ericaceous feed as well.

Prune plums and cherries

THE 'stone' fruit trees need to be pruned while they are in their active period. Doing this early in the season often means missing out on fruit. By doing it now, the plums and cherries will have formed (some will be harvested already), and you can decide which branches need cutting back.

READERS' QUESTIONS

MR Barton from near Northallerton wants to know what the raised scabby bumps on his apples are. The inside of the fruit is all right, but is it safe to eat?

THIS is the result of the apple being bitten by a capsid bug (Plesiocris rugicollis) whilst the fruit was still forming. The bug, a bright green insect about half an inch long, feeds on the juice by piercing the skin of the apple and sucking it out. The hole scars over, just as we do when we have a wound, and the result is the slightly raised scab. The damage is purely superficial and cosmetic. The apple is totally safe to consume. If you don't fancy eating the scabby piece, simply cut or scrape it off.

Tune in to Ask about Gardening with Brigid Press every Sunday from 12-2pm on BBC Radio Cleveland, 95FM. Send your questions to be answered in The Northern Echo to Brigid at brigidpress67.freeserve.co.uk or write to her care of Nature's World, Ladgate Lane, Acklam, Middlesbrough.

Published: 23/08/2003