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barely seen any rain at all.In drier parts of the UK, plants are bursting into flower earlier, bees and butterflies are out earlier, and the ground, which should be warm and wet from April showers, is parched. All this and some areas are still getting

the drain in heavily paved areas, putting pressure on our ancient sewage systems. During heavy rain, the sewers can't cope, so water ends up back on our driveways and sometimes in in our homes, or in local rivers, which then burst their banks.I doubt many

.The 'shallow pond' is only 2m in diameter, with a maximum depth of 30cm and gentle sloping sides. It's planted with water forget-me-not, brooklime, and hornwort to oxygenate the water. The day after I dug the pond, my mum's garden had a month's rain in 24 hours

coating on their leaves and flowers is easily marked.Traditionally, auriculas are grown in 'theatres', which enable them to grow outside while being protected from the rain. I suppose our garden is a bit like an auricula theatre; it's flanked by two walls

in the rain, so I get to see them, eat my lunch in the morning to avoid time-wasting lunch queues. There's no point in dressing up and trying to look pretty, it only ends in tears by about 11.30am. Sensible shoes and a sturdy rucksack are the only way to go

Green manures are the perfect organic fertiliser. They improve soil structure, suppress weeds and return nutrients to the soil.You never see bare earth in the wild for a reason: autumn rains in particular can leach nutrients, damage soil structure

not buckled under the weight of rain-sodden compost, nor the trampling of pigeons. It won't be visited by black redstarts, but I can't wait to see the first bee, visiting a flower that would otherwise not have been there.

.The orange ladybird eats the mildew on leaves of deciduous trees, particularly sycamore. It appears to be becoming more abundant and is likely to have had a good 2012 due to all the rain (and therefore mildew). However, like the native two-spot, its success

long. Then I'll sow grass seed in the dead patches. I'm also cultivating a small wildflower meadow among the long grass, so I'll transplant some self-sown field poppies here and remove some ragwort I accidentally transplanted the other week.If it rains