Small jobs perfect tasks during dodgy weather

If you're there, God, I'd like you to know I've had enough rain now. Having been a cat in a former life, I'm not keen on getting wet unless I'm wearing a bikini and lying in hot sand on a beach in Rarotonga. But if it's going to rain, let it rain all day, thanks, and I'll stay inside with a book. Don't fool me into thinking it's going to be fine and then wait till I'm out in the garden with a wheelbarrow full of soil and have it bucket down for 30 seconds, and then fine up again. I'm not temperamentally suited to unsettled weather.
Despite this, a huge amount has been achieved in our garden during the past couple of weeks because we've attended to all those jobs that never seem important enough to spend a whole day or a weekend on, but which fit rather neatly into the smaller windows of opportunity between tropical downpours.
So if it's dodgy weather at your place and you're itching to get something done, look for small jobs.
I refurbished the piece of concrete sculpture that stands at our entranceway. It needed the flaking paint, mould and muck wire-brushed off, a quick scrubbing with sugar soap, and the brass house numbers polished and re-glued.
This fit neatly into a one-and-a-half-hour patch of watery sunshine, and I even had time to set a couple of nice volcanic rocks at its base and plant two scleranthus beside them.
Rather more ambitious and dependent on the goodwill of the weather gods was creating a boardwalk up a sloping grass bank to divide the space and give us defined access to the stream. We already had the timber so it was surprisingly simple - we dug out the turf and used it as home-made ready-lawn in another area, set the boards in place, dragged a number of rocks alongside, and planted the edge with hen and chicken ferns.
It was one of those lovely jobs that went according to plan from the first step and delivered serious job satisfaction. It took four hours, divided in two by a thunderstorm.
Edging a part of the driveway along the same grass bank was a little more tedious, since the bank (artificially created as a flood bank) is composed largely of fill, which makes digging holes in it something of a challenge.
We'd decided to alternate rocks and grasses, so we grabbed a dozen or so carex "frosted curls" from the nursery, and severely stressed our hand trolley by moving several rocks from other parts of the section. The job fit into a two-hour time frame and, again, was big on job satisfaction.
Interestingly, during all this activity it never rained until we'd finished putting our plants in, and then the heavens opened and relieved us of the need to water them in.
Perhaps one of the best jobs was demolishing the concrete edging of the front garden. It fell apart with embarrassing ease at the first blow of the mallet and was replaced with solid timber sleepers. Because we're both somewhat overcommitted to all things level and symmetrical, getting the boards in place was a teeth-gritting experience and we knew that if we didn't finish before the next tropical downpour we'd have soil all over the driveway.
But it was worth it. The house no longer looks as if it's having an identity crisis (Napier art deco meets not-very-authentic, crumbling Crete), and the new boundary far better showcases the natives and subtropicals that are happily cohabiting there.
The trick to getting creative satisfaction out of small jobs is to take them right through to the finishing stage, which includes planting, painting or staining, and tidying up the mess.
Then you can stand back with a glass of wine and admire your handiwork. Just make sure rain doesn't get in your glass.
TOP TIPS
* If you're putting in a border of grasses, buy several at a time, plant three-quarters of them as is, and divide the rest into two or four, depending on size. Intersperse the large plants with the ones you've split and you'll cover twice the distance. The little ones will quickly catch up.
* Unless you're planting a box hedge or some other formal border, give your edging a slightly random look by planting irregularly. It will give the impression it is naturally occurring rather than the result of mathematical precision.
* If your border is a long one, mix the plant palette up a little - 100m of grasses is never going to look natural, so intersperse with the occasional clump of flax, or a lancewood or cordyline to give height and textural variety without taking up too much space.
* Make use of found objects to lift an area of planting out of the ordinary. A piece of driftwood, a rock, an old lump of sandstone or a relic such as an old tin watering can will add interest and give the area a focal point.
* If you don't want to use professionals, make sure you have the skills to achieve your projects. Steps or a formal path may be beyond your abilities, but pavers or timber slabs set into the ground will achieve a similar result for less effort and skill.