Day 51 What rain??

For some time, we have wondered why the small hedge plants out the front closest to the fence are not as healthy as those near the mail box or inside the fence. Sean had a poke around the other day and came to a conclusion. Before I tell you though, let me explain today's photo.

It was taken at 10.30 pm. It has been raining since about 5.30 (in varying rates of heaviness). There has been enough rain for the guttering on the front verandah near the front door to have spilled over onto the verandah. The pic is of one of the bushes in the group closest to the fence. I brushed back maybe 4 mm of soil in a small area to reveal dry soil.

Now back to the theory. Sean reckons that the gum tree near the fence provides enough shelter for the plants when it rains that the water does not penetrate to the roots and therefore they don't grow. The proof is in the above pic...5 hours of rain and the soil is dry when only the top few mms is brushed away. What chance do the poor plants have....and does rain actually help them at all? I am guessing the sporadic watering they get is their main source of H2O and that even the rain that we have had of late is not really doing them much good at all!