Six Keys to Garden Health in the HEAT

Let's talk about 6 keys to do to keep your garden healthy when it's sweltering.

ONE - Water Regularly

Hydration is golden to managing healthy gardening spaces in scorching temperatures. Adequately hydrated plants can maintain their turgor and fluids to support their metabolic processes. The goal is to keep soil evenly moist, and here is how:

• Check for Hydration Levels Daily  
  
  
• Water Thoroughly
  • For planters or containers measuring 14" across, water until you see it drip out of the bottom of the pot
  • For larger containers, water generously, but it may be too much water for the plants if it drips out of the bottom.
  • For flowerbeds, raised beds, and in ground plantings - create a well in the soil around the base of the plants and fill that well completely.
  • Drip irrigation is an efficient and conservative method of watering.
    
    
• Water in the Morning
  • Watering while it is still cool allows plants to have a good water supply all day, while watering at night can create a persistent cool, wet, dark environment that can increase the potential of developing plant diseases.
    
    

TWO - Fertilize Regularly

In hot, dry weather, fertilizing can be a little tricky, but maintain a good fertilizing schedule as you would normally, but don't give any extra fertilizer because plant structures can easily burn under water stress.

THREE - Mulch Your Garden

In hot, dry weather, mulch is a garden's best friend. It reduces water evaporation, conserves soil moisture, and insulates the soil from sweltering summer temperatures and cools it down.

FOUR - Deadhead Regularly

It’s a good idea to take off spent flowers during hot weather because it reduces metabolic demand.

FIVE - Pinch Back Old Leaves

By removing old, tired, and dead leaves, you let the most productive leaves do the work of photosynthesis.

SIX - Provide Some Shade

When plants are struggling under the heat consider moving hanging baskets and planters to a location that gives them a break from the sun, and for in-ground plantings, provide a shade cover like lattice to block out some of the sun's rays.