More than a month ago, Sevan and I planted some flowers and herbs in pots and beds of Ms A's back garden. Time was supposed to tell whether the planting was successful. And you know what? Time was brutal.

Flowers, so colourful when we saw them last time in May, were not in good shape. The most dazzling plants were gone or withering. Maybe they were not supposed to be blossoming for that long. Herbs, on the other hand, were doing well, maybe apart from coriander, which looked less lush than the rest. Parsley was thriving, making Ms A think about harvesting a big bunch to make tabbouleh.

Ms A liked that her garden was quiet and secluded, with a good amount of shade throughout the day. Unfortunately, the proximity of tall trees made the paving a constant target for the air strikes of branches and leaves. Today's session was mostly about sweeping, preceded by weeding between the paving stones. I made progress quickly, especially having Ms A helping me sweep with a broom from her seemingly infinite collection of brushes. The lady became so encouraged by my company that she decided to wash the windowsills and door to the back garden while I was dealing with sweeping.

The task finished with seeding coriander and parsley in the flowerbeds. Ms A wanted to use up the seeds she had and the remainder of the soil she bought for planting. There was too much soil already in the bed where Ms A wanted to have the seeds sown. I dug out the old soil and distributed it across less attractive sections of the flowerbed. When I hit the layer of hard, dry soil with my spade, the tough truth hit me back. The soil was not only just hard but full of roots. I believed they belonged to the trees that were surrounding the garden. Did I find the (literally) root cause of the problem? How those tiny flowers were supposed to compete for nutrients with the trees?

I used the soil and sow the herbs anyway. Ms A looked to me for gardening advice. With the standard I'm not an expert disclaimer, I suggested the pots could be a better option than the bed and pointed at Sevan's herbs, living prosperous lives in their pots. Mr A was very grateful for my efforts despite the results that didn't seem remarkable.

I ran back along the canal, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine after a day of showers and thunderstorms. I was glad I had called Ms A earlier and postponed the start of the mission because of the weather.