How to Take Care of Your Garden in the Summer Season

“Take care of your garden in the summer season” – During Summer it is not uncommon to see plants wilting and dying from the scorching heat. This is the most difficult time of the year for gardeners to keep their plants verdant and healthy. The harsh temperature and the absence of rain will take its toll on the plants and the will of the gardeners to leave the comforts of their AC home to toil under the Summer’s heat is too much to bear.

But keeping our beloved gardens in good shape is foremost in every gardener’s list whether it’s summer or not. Here’s a stress-relieving guide to Summer gardening to ensure that your favorite plants will survive sunny days.

Keep your garden watered

During Summer the most important aspect of garden care is watering. And it’s not just watering to get them wet there are proper ways to do this to keep the plants looking fresh.

A regular watering schedule will ensure a good care and healthy garden during the long hot summer. Water your plants in the early morning, this will allow water to soak and reach the roots before evaporating in the heat of the sun.  Keep the soil soggy, light watering won’t help the deep roots won’t get water and the plant will die of thirst. Apply water directly to the ground, wet leaves can lead to disease.

If you are not an early bird, water your plants late in the afternoon or early evening to give time for the roots to absorb water. Leaves should be dry before nightfall to avoid fungus problems.

Soaker hoses will work best for this.

Add a touch of shade

As the garden keeper you know your plants well, some plants love sunlight while others prefer cooler weather. Provide shade to plants that grow without sunlight to help them through the summer months. The ideal place to install a shade is the vacant space at the back of the garage. Protect the plants from sunlight by constructing a garage shed. Mount shelves on the wall and use tarpaulin or shade cloth to block the sunlight.

If you are an experienced DIYer consider using wood, roofing materials, and your creative mind for a trendy shed.

Promote high humidity

Plants need humidity to flourish. When the air is dry, the pores through which they breathe lose moisture and this can’t be replaced by the water absorbed by the roots. Thin leaves need more humidity.

Signs of low humidity are curled leaves, dry leaf tips, frequent watering and flower buds turn brown or fall off. Fret not, there’s plenty you can do to protect your plants from the effect of dry air.

• Place the plants together to absorb the moisture when they perspire. The grouping will create a moisture-rich setting to help each other out.

• Arrange plants of different levels, place tall plants on the sides to serve as walls and hold moisture they can also release moisture to smaller plants.

• Be sure to give your plant deep watering, watering too quickly often results to the top getting wet and the rest exits at the sides and out at the bottom. Ascertain that water is absorbed by the soil to provide moisture in the environment.

• Fill a shallow dish with pebbles and water, place the pot on top for your plant to collect humidity and help your plant survive the summer heat.

• Do not fertilize in summer, your plant is stressed out from the excessive heat and is not ready to make use of nutrients. Fertilizers will stress your plant further wait until things cool down for feeding.

• Avoid re-potting, this is added stress and leaves will get damaged which will cause it to fail.

Spreading a layer of mulch

A layer of organic mulch blankets the ground protecting the soil from the sun keeping it cooler the moisture loss is prevented from evaporation. The plant roots are happy and healthy and the weeds are kept out. To be effective leave a gap of several inches between stems of plant or trunks of trees and don’t make it too thick that water can’t penetrate.

If things don’t work out the way you expected seek the advice of a landscape contractor. They are professionals with experience in restoring outdoor spaces by planting trees, flowers and shrubs.