The warm sunny weather in the summer months provides the perfect opportunity to enjoy your garden. Given the fact we all love to use our gardens as a place to socialise with friends and family, so keeping your garden neat and tidy is an absolute must.
There are many seasonal tasks to be carried out when gardening. Some of them are a no-brainer such as watering and mowing the lawn, but there are many other things to pay attention to in your garden come summertime.
If your garden could use some more care and attention, you have come to the right place. We have put together our best summer gardening tips to spruce up your outdoor space and turn it into a green paradise.
Water When the Hottest Part of the Day has Passed
Watering can make a massive difference when it comes to keeping your garden fresh. One of the best summer gardening tips we can give you is to be smart about when and how often you should water your garden.
During the peak summer heat, watering your garden in the day, when it’s still hot, is just a waste of time and effort as the water will evaporate quicker and your plants won’t get as much as they need. Instead, water your garden either early in the morning or later in the evening after the sun has started to set.
Watering often and little is also a no-go, because it will only encourage your plants to grow roots closer to the top of the soil and promote the growth of weeds. When you water your garden, really soak the soil surrounding your plants until you see pools forming on the surface. This way the water can reach all the way to the roots of your plants and it will also take longer to evaporate, which means you will have to water less often.
Prune Dead and Dry Leaves
Even if you take great care of your plants there is bound to be at least a few dry leaves and branches. Yellow leaves and dead branches are two of the things no one wants to see in their garden.
Regularly prune all the dead and dry leaves from your plants to keep your garden looking fresh all the way through summer. Although dry branches tend to be brittle and sesy to break off, it’s best to use a pair of gardening scissors for the task to avoid damaging the bigger branches or the stem.
Invest in Shade Options
Some plants deal with heat worse than others, which is why it’s a good idea to invest in some form of shading in your garden.
There are many options on the market such as shade clothes or sails, canopies, and much more. Giving your plants some shade can help prevent leaf-burn and also protect your fruit and vegetable beds from birds and bugs.
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Make Sure Your Plants Have Enough Nutrients
Feeding and fertilising your garden regularly is another easy way to ensure your garden looks green and fresh all summer. This is particularly essential for plants growing in pots as they can quickly exhaust all the nutrients in the soil.
A general-use plant food will be sufficient for most flowers and decorative plants, however, if you’re growing any fruit and vegetables you will need to get a specialised plant food that is suitable for edible plants. Fruit and vegetable plant food is more dense in potassium to promote the growth of the edible parts of the plant.
During the intense growing season you should feed your plants at least once a week, following the instructions on the bottle.
Deadhead Bedding Plants
This summer gardening tip applies mostly to flowering plants, many of which bloom intensely in summer. Deadheading involves clipping any dead flowers that are likely to start forming flower seeds.
This practice will help increase the amount of flowers your plants produce as it encourages the plant to put more energy into growing buds. It’s also an effective way to stop plants from setting seed and keeping your flower beds neat and tidy.
Keep Patios and Plant Beds Clean of Weeds
The warm weather in summer, combined with the occasional rain creates the perfect conditions for weeds to thrive. Weeds will steal nutrients from your plants and if you don’t take care of them early enough they can overgrow your plants and ruin the look of your garden.
To maintain the looks of your garden, you have to make sure you stay on top of weed-control. Regularly pull out any weeds from your plant beds and plant pots. If weeds are a persistent problem in your garden, make sure to use a weedkiller to limit their growth.
If you have a tiled patio or outdoor sitting area, you should also make sure that there aren’t any weeds growing between the tiles and if there is, pull them out.
Take Extra Care for Exotic Plants
If you have any exotic plants in your garden such as bonsai trees or rare tropical species, you need to pay extra attention to them in summer. Too much direct sun and heat can be dangerous for plants as delicate as bonsai trees for example so it’s important that you keep your bonsai safe in summer by moving it out of the sun and watering it more often than usual. Same applies for other fragile plants such as orchids or African violets.
We hope that those summer gardening tips will help you maintain your garden better so you can enjoy spending time outside with your family.