Protect your garden from the summer heat

10 Jan 2024

It feels like only yesterday we were talking about how to protect your garden from frost, and now we’re talking about how to protect it from the heat! The scorching heat and dry winds during summer can really take a toll on your garden, but a bit of care can go a long way...


Your garden
Mulch is a great way to create a barrier between the heat and your garden, as it reduces evaporation and keeps the roots of your plants cooler. We recommend opting for lighter-coloured mulch for veggie gardens during the hotter months, like sugarcane or Lucerne. If you have an established garden, a very fine composted pine bark will do the trick. Also, when mulching, 30 to 50 millimetres thick is more than enough – too thick and it’s likely to have the opposite effect on your garden.Mulch is also a great way to prevent weeds, which compete with your plants for water, and the less of them the better, we say!

Your lawn
Living in a drought-prone country, is extremely important that we are all water-conscious and stick to our government guidelines. When watering your garden on your allocated days, we recommend scheduling the sprinklers for early in the morning when they are much more effective and evaporation rate is low. By watering in the earlier hours, your plants will be able to build up their moisture supply, which will defend off the heat and can help carry them through the hot day ahead. If your plants are still looking a bit heat-stroked later in the day, water by hand and be sure to aim at the roots.

 
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Your lawn is often one of the first places to show signs of heat damage, so our few simple tips can help you keep it looking lush and green during summer. When mowing your lawn during summer, we recommend cutting it higher (at about 8cms), so that the grass blade is longer. This blades of grass will provide better sun protection for the soil, and helps stop it from drying out. The higher you set the mower, the better your lawn will look throughout summer.

During the summer months, ease off on feeding your plants. The heat, as well as the food, tends to cause stress to the plant, so just maintain watering levels.
If you follow a few of our simple tricks, your garden should be in the best position to survive another long, hot, Australian summer!
 

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