Tips for gardening in high heat
The heat can be overwhelming during the long summer nights and days making it difficult for plants to thrive without the proper care. If you have what it takes to try gardening in high temperatures, consider choosing the toughest plants for your climate conditions. Follow these few tips on keeping your garden healthy and beautiful with minimum effort.
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- You have probably heard of the benefits of mulch in your garden. Keep your garden mulched and refilled every spring. It helps beautify your garden, stops weeds from spreading and also preserves water. You can make your own natural mulch with grass clippings, finely chopped tree branches and leaves by allowing them to dry for a few days or weeks. If this is not something you want to mess with, several city landfills offer recycled materials like mulch for a great price. Pay them a visit or have mulch delivered to your residence. It's worth your time. If it doesn't exist in your state and city then visit your local home improvement stores to buy bags of mulch. They come in varieties of shapes and colors and for a fairly good price. Buying mulch from bags helps you cut down on shoveling and makes the job go a little bit faster. Do not apply a thick layer of mulch around your plants. It can stop the air from reaching the soil and into the plant roots.
- Weeds are a nuisance and need to be removed at once. They can grow tall and spread rapidly in your garden. You need to take control of the weeds by removing them with chemicals that you can buy at your local home improvement stores or by simply using your hands. If the soil is too dry, you will have a tougher time removing them. In that situation, wet the soil completely for easy removal. Furthermore, you can place layers of newspapers over the weeds covering them well. Wet the newspaper to keep it in place, and then cover them with grass clippings or leaves. If you wait a few weeks, you may be able to sow seeds where you placed the newspapers by simply creating holes through them. Add soil and compost over the seeds and water well. You will be amazed to see plants growing.
- Water is very important and crucial for the plants to thrive well in the heat. Design your sprinkler systems that will allow the plants to get plenty of water and for the soil to be moist during the hot sunny days. Although too little water is not good for your plants, over watering can equally destroy them, particularly if the drainage is poorly designed. Soggy soil conditions will rot the roots of your plants and will kill them in a matter of days. Consider using a drip system.
- Walk through your landscape and check for plants that are not looking their best due to extreme or insufficient sunlight. Make an effort to move those plants to a different location where they will receive adequate light.
- In spring, trim some of your shrubs to maintain the shapes and make them look presentable. Avoid pruning heavily blooming shrubs, roses or flowering trees in spring and summer. This will reduce the following year's blossoms and buds.
- Plant vegetables. There are plenty of heat tolerant fruits and vegetables like watermelons, spinach, peas and many more varieties that you can enjoy harvesting from your garden regardless of the scorching heat. Just remember to give them enough water to stay cool throughout the day. You also need to watch out for little hungry critters like caterpillars or beetles. They can spoil your garden.
- If you don't mind the smell, add manure. It's a great addition to your vegetable garden. Till the part of your unused garden and let it expose to the sun. This will get rid of unwanted weeds. Continue to do this until you are ready to plant.
Gardening is a great hobby. It can be done in any climate. Don't let the hot temperature fool you. Gear yourself up with plenty of water and wear appropriate clothing to garden in a very hot temperature day. Later on, sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labors by having beautiful fresh cut flowers from your garden in your home and eat fresh vegetables in your cooking.
