With Summer now well and truly here, it’s a busy time for gardeners. With long, hot and often very dry stints over the warmer months, most gardens need a little extra care to stay full of life and thrive.
Here are our top tips to keep your garden looking lush throughout the warmer months ahead:
Building healthy soil
Healthy soil is the key to happy and thriving gardens. Having lots of fibre in your soil will help it retain nutrients and moisture and will mean you won't have to water as often. To prepare your soil for summer, add compost and organic manure to help improve its structure, aeration and long-term health.
When adding compost and organic material, lightly dig it into the topsoil and remove any weeds by hand or with a trowel. While delving in the soil, put your fingers down into it. If it feels dry, add water. If you find that water is pooling onto or running off the soil surface it may be repelling water so apply a soil wetter to ensure water gets to where it’s needed – the plant’s root system.
Get mulching.
Along with good soil, mulch is another essential in any summer garden to protect the earth and retain moisture. Just like your skin, soil exposed to harsh sun will dry, crack and stop absorbing water as quickly. Adding a 7 – 10cm thick layer of mulch at the start of summer can also help suppress weeds. Mulch will also begin to break down and add more nutrients to your soil, slowly feeding your plants throughout the season.
Mulch comes in the form of organic and non-organic and can be used on soil or potting mix. Organic mulch includes materials like sugar cane, pea straw, lucerne and bark, which break down over time helping to improve the soil. Fine organic mulches are great for the vegie patch, fruit trees and the cottage garden. Coarser bark mulches suit native gardens and areas of shrubs and trees.
Non-organic mulch includes gravel, pebbles or recycled materials such as crushed glass. Use these types of mulches around Aussie natives, Mediterranean type plants – such as olives, lavender, rosemary – and around succulents and cactus.
Water Wisely.
Watering your plants regularly throughout summer is also vital to help them survive the warmer months. There are a few ways that you can get water to your plants more efficiently, saving you time and wasting less water.
First, set up a regular watering pattern to make sure your plants don’t dry out. Depending on the requirements of your plants and any local water restrictions, maintain a routine of watering less often but for a longer period as this ensures roots go down into the soil to search for moisture, nutrients and plant stability.
Also water your garden early in the morning or late in the evening to give the soil time to absorb the water before it can evaporate, and apply water to the soil, not the foliage, as this is where the roots absorb water.
Not all ways of watering will be effective in every part of your garden. It’s important to evaluate each space and come up with a solution to quickly and efficiently saturate the area. At the end of a scorching day, don't forget to give your plants another good water to help them bounce back overnight.
Plant health.
Strong, healthy plants will cope better with the sun’s baking rays and excessively high temperatures. So regularly inspect your plants for signs of stress, pests, diseases, and damaged foliage. Prune off affected areas, remove insects by hand (wear gloves) or with a hose.
Pests and diseases may also indicate that a plant is sick or struggling from adverse environmental factors. Look out for other signs that indicate a weakened or stressed plant including:
- Wilting – heat stress and lack of moisture.
- Yellow leaves – too much or too little moisture or not enough nutrients.
- Brown and crisp leaves – lacking moisture over a long period, causing the plant not to function.
Feed your plants
Giving your plants a little extra nutrition during the warmer months will help them grow healthy and resilient. There are no set rules to feeding and nourishing your plants and garden. It all depends on your preferred application method – liquid, granular or slow-release fertiliser – and how often you want to get out and do it. But always apply in the cool of the day, either early morning or late evening. Never apply a fertiliser in the heat of the day (temperatures over 25C), especially to the foliage, as it may burn it.
Plant choice and location.
Whether planning a new garden or updating an existing one, plant selection is essential. Choosing the right plants for the right location can be as easy as reading the information on its plant tag or getting local advice from staff at hardware or garden centres.
Cactus and succulents are drought-tolerant plants because of their rubber-like or coarse foliage and will survive on very little nurturing. Whereas heat and sun-sensitive plants such as hydrangeas and maples (Acer) need protection, irrigation, and nutrients to get through summer unscathed.
Other heat-tolerant plants include those with small grey or silver leaves. These plants get their coloration by having a hairy surface, an adaptation that helps reduce water evaporation. Good options include lavender, senecio, convolvulus or Eremophila. Olive trees and rosemary are also good in hot, sunny areas as their small but tough green leaves survive well in the heat.
Sun-sensitive plants such as hydrangeas can be grown in the garden by catering to their needs. Place them in shady positions or with morning sun, ensure they are well watered on hot days and feed them well so they are strong and healthy and can withstand the effects of heat stress.
Other garden tips
As the weather warms in the lead up to summer follow these tips to keep your garden looking good.
- Indoor plants: Move plants back from windows to prevent foliage burn. Also, ensure they are not placed directly in front of the air-conditioner as they will be damaged by a blast of cold air
- Outdoor pots: On days of extreme heat, move pot plants to a cooler position in the garden. Underneath the shade of a tree or verandah is ideal.
- Garden plants: Cover heat and sun-sensitive plants with shade cloth to prevent drooping and burning. Remember to remove the covering in the cool of the evening.
- Deadhead spent flowers: This keeps the garden looking good and ensures a continual display of beautiful blooms.
- Harvest produce: Harvest produce as it’s ready and in the cool of the day. When harvesting, check for pests and diseases, which may harm plants. Apply the appropriate treatment to remove them.
- Gardening is all about having the confidence to get stuck in and give it a go. Every location has a unique climate, soil structure and its own environmental impacts. So, the more you learn about the unique qualities of your property, the more you will be able to respond and develop your garden into a thriving and abundant food system. Observe where your garden gets shade throughout the year and which garden beds bear the full force of the hot summer sun. Knowing this can help you work with nature to have a happy and healthy garden all year round.