Summer is one of, if not the best, time to get your garden looking its best. With your lawn thriving and flowers blooming, your garden will thrive in the warmer months. Here are a few Summer gardening tips to ensure you get the most out of it this season.
Get the Right Tools
The first thing you need to do is ensure you have the right tools for the job. Your garden is still a delicate biome of sorts, and it needs to be trimmed, cut, and pruned correctly. From hedge trimmers to a weed eater, be sure you have the right tools available.
If you have next to nothing, a quick search of lawnmowers for sale or something similar will help you find something at a great price, even if it is secondhand.
Mulch
Mulch is your garden's best friend during the warmer months. Applying a two-inch layer later to your garden beds will protect the soil from the heat, allowing it to stay cool, and to retain moisture for longer, protecting the roots of your plants.
There is no “best type” of mulch; as long as it is made of organic materials and decomposes correctly, your soil will remain protected and be injected with all the useful nutrients the mulch has to offer.
Plant Feed
If you have a lot of plants in plant boxes, window sill boxes, pots, hanging pots, etc, mulch may not be an option. Instead, research the best plant food for your needs and use that instead. These plants are easier to protect against the sun, but they still need the nutrients.
Weed Removal
Summer is the time when weeds thrive, and a small weed problem can quickly turn into a weed jungle if it is not sorted out quickly. While weeding can be a pain, it should be something you do at least once a week.
Even if you don’t think there are many, if any weeds, it is still important to inspect your garden and ensure there aren’t any hiding underneath any bushes, flowers, etc.
Remove Faded Flowers
As Summer is the time for many flowers and blossoms to bloom, you should ensure you aren’t restricting them. Dead flowers and bulbs can hinder the growth of new ones, and potentially damage the plant they are attached to.
Take a walk around your garden with your pruners and snip off all the dead flowers you can find, as well as the ones that don’t look healthy.
Watering
Watering is, clearly, crucial during the warmer months. Your soil and plants can dry out in no time, and they need regular watering to ensure they stay hydrated and healthy. It is also important to spray your leaves with water, typically with a spray bottle or the misting setting on your hose pipe.
When you water is also important, doing it in the early morning or later in the evening is the best time. Watering in the middle of the day is almost pointless as the heat of the sun will evaporate the water very quickly.
Do Not Over-Water
Another aspect to remember is to not over-water your plants just because it is hot. Unless they are super-delicate, most plants will do just fine with a normal amount of water. Over-watering can cause shallow roots and even potentially kill the plant.
Pests & Disease
Along with weeds, pests, and disease all thrive during Summer. The populations of many garden pests are typically at their highest during the warmer months, and therefore, you need to take steps to keep them away.
One of the best ways to combat many pests is to allow their natural predators to thrive. Installing a couple of birdhouses will encourage your winged guardians to your garden, and they very rarely reject an insect treat.
Keep the Bees
Pollination is another major benefit you can see in the Summer months, and your plants will love it. Bees may seem like a problem in a garden, but they should be encouraged to visit during the Summer.
You can build or buy a small “bee hotel” for them; this simple wooden box acts like a makeshift hive for the bees, protects them from the weather, and encourages them to stay in the area for longer.
Use a Shade Cloth if Needed
If large parts of your flower beds are not protected by trees or shade, you may need to erect shade cloth. Much like you see at many garden centers, shade cloth simply does the job of stopping direct sunlight from hitting your plants.
Creating your own shaded area is also relatively easy to do and often requires no more than a few nails, a hammer, and a staple gun.
Grass Cutting
Finally, a small change to make when cutting your grass in the Summer is to cut it a bit longer than you normally would. Whether it be the kids playing out, or walking in and out of the house while having a barbecue, your grass will see a lot more foot traffic when it warms up.
Keeping the grass longer will offer an extra bit of protection to the soil underneath, and therefore, putting chairs on it, walking across it, etc., won’t cause as much damage as it would if the grass was shorter.
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