IT seems a rarity that we get sufficient sunshine in our English gardens to simply lie back and enjoy the summer warmth. The body needs a good recharge of light and heat every now and again. Why else do we go away on annual holidays and block book sessions on tanning beds if not to soak up the solar rays?

Besides, we need the vitamin D and the boost in serotonin levels. It keeps us happy and healthy.

Well, I thought that I had come up with enough justifications for a quiet, relaxing session on the sunlounger. I was on holiday (using up my annual leave before starting a new job), I was staying at a friend's house and I didn't have a worry on my mind. It was the perfect lazy day, so out I trundled, skimpily clad (very sheltered and discreet garden), chilled drink and magazine (gardening, of course) in hand.

I chose a spot that was out of the very slight breeze, and gave me the prettiest view of the garden.

I had just finished browsing through the pictures in the magazine (it was a lazy day, remember) and had let my eyes defocus, ready to slip into that land of contentment. It was all so perfect.

I lay, and lay and waited for that blanket of rest to fall upon me, but there was something preventing me from crossing over that point.

It wasn't something obvious.

The regular roar of aeroplane engines as they gave that final extra boost on lift off from the not-so-distant airport had become a familiar noise in my brain, and no longer distracted me. It wasn't that.

The background hum from the even nearer A66 didn't worry me.

Nor, for once, was it the ever predictable Saturday morning whine of the strimmer or buzz of the lawnmower.

No it was something else. I sat up and took a sip of my iced water.

Then it struck me. The noise that was preventing me from slipping into complete relaxation was some form of moving water.

This didn't have that gentle babbling sound of a moorland stream, nor the subtle but powerful ripple of a valley river.

This was more your dripping tap and broken drainage type of noise.

It was like the constant filling up of a toilet cistern.

I discreetly peeked around. There had been a lot of construction work going on in one of the nearby gardens over the past six months.

Deliveries of large chunks of stone were followed by long evenings of stone cutting. Shovel loads of concrete were hauled to the top of the garden (a steep, sloping one) and water pipes buried underground.

I had surmised that this might be some kind of water course, but hadn't ever imagined that it would be such a colossal affair.

The 'stream' flowed in a cement gulley from the top of the hill down to a holding pond and then over a stone step into a huge bottom pond.

Granted, it certainly was a magnificent piece of engineering.

The noise wasn't that loud, it was just that it was unnatural. There was no vegetation planted up the sides to baffle the sound, and there was nothing within the water to soften it.

I am all for water features, and I have created one or two myself in the past. They can be attractive, calming, relaxing and can support a multitude of wildlife. However, in order to get the best from your water feature, you do also have to ensure that the one you install in your garden is in keeping with the size of the garden, and the nature of the surrounding area. Is the countryside really ready for invasions of such industrial water features?

MR Kerrison e-mailed me with a question about his tomatoes. For the last year or so, the leaves on his plants have started developing dark patches. This spreads and eventually ends up at the stem.

I AM afraid that what you may have on your tomatoes is a case of blight.

If you look closely at the patches on the leaves or stems, you may notice the white fluffy fungal growth so typical of phytophthora infestans.

The disease is encouraged by moist or humid conditions, combined with warm temperatures and can contaminate potatoes as well. This has the potential to destroy your entire crop, so I would suggest you remove and burn any affected plants. It is possible to prevent outbreaks by spraying with a copper fungicide, and remember to rotate crops on a regular basis (ensure never to grow potatoes after tomatoes or vice versa). You can also try growing resistant strains.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

Earth up the soil around sprouting green tops of potatoes.

This prevents the tubers from growing too near the surface and turning green.

Sow successions of carrots and beetroot in rows on prepared land.

Dead head wallflowers that are starting to go over in order to prolong the flowering season.

POSTSCRIPT

Brigid presents 'Ask about Gardening' every Sunday from 122pm on BBC Radio Cleveland. Email questions can be sent to brigidpress@hotmail. com

Published: 29/05/2004