4 Suggestions for Caring for your Garden in Summertime
Caring for your garden in summertime includes paying attention to the time of day when you water and to the prevention of possible plagues and diseases.
Although your garden needs care for all year round, it’s especially the case in the summertime. This is due to the higher than normal temperatures and droughts that can cause damage to your plants.
Obviously, in the summertime, all plants will be affected, but this is even more so in drier areas. That’s why it’s important to know which plants you can grow in a dry climate, so they won’t wither and suffer in high temperatures.
If you’re going on holiday and you don’t have anyone to water your garden, the best solution would be to install an automatic watering system. With this, you can program watering times on a schedule.
Below you can find 4 suggestions that will help you in caring for your garden in summertime. You’ll find some great tips!
1. Water at the start or the end of the day
It’s very important to water either very early or very late in the day. That’s the best way to ensure the soil holds the moisture for as long as possible.
You should avoid watering in the middle of the day at all costs. The water will evaporate before soaking into the soil.
By following these suggestions, as well as maintaining the moisture in the ground, you will save water. You can also reuse water that’s left over from boiling vegetables on your plants.
If you’re not at home every day, you can organize watering of your plants with an automatic watering system. But even with that in place, make sure you periodically check the sprinklers to make sure they’re working properly.
It’s also recommended to choose native plants since exotic and imported plants will need a lot more care and attention and will also need more water.
2. The importance of a good fertilizer
A good fertilizer is essential for plant maintenance and for caring for your garden in summertime in general. Fertilizer will help plants to grow and develop better and will help them to endure high temperatures.
Without a doubt, the best time to fertilize your garden is in the spring and summer. That’s when plants become more active and need more nutrients.
You can find a huge variety of different fertilizers on the market. You can find them with just one or two or even more nutrients essential to plant growth. Also, depending on their origin, there are two main types of fertilizers:
- Organic fertilizers: of animal or vegetable origin.
- Inorganic fertilizers: of mineral origin.
It’s very important to use the correct amount of fertilizer, whether it’s dissolved in water and then watered onto the plants or applied directly to the soil.
3. Caring for your garden in summertime: preventing diseases
Prevention is better than cure. This is especially the case for plants during the summer when it’s much more common to see plants affected by plague or disease.
One important factor to take into account is that you should avoid overwatering since too much water can cause fungus to grow on your plants.
You should have some type of pesticide to use if you see that one of your plants has any disease insect plagues before it can contaminate other plants. B e alert to any signs that indicate that a plant is starting to get sick.
You can try controlling plagues with natural remedies that you can make at home. And, if the plague or disease continues, proceed to use the relevant pesticide.
You should also pay attention to the way in which you prune and cut your plants. If you prune too hard, bushes and trees can weaken which increases the likelihood of plagues and diseases.
4. Maintaining the lawn
Lastly, here you can learn about the importance of maintaining the lawn in the summertime.
A lawn has several advantages in the summer, the main one being that it makes the atmosphere seem fresher even on the hottest days. It can make the temperature seem a little lower than it really is, which is always welcome.
Don´t make the following mistakes when maintaining your lawn:
- Don’t cut it too short: you’ll weaken the roots. The ideal length for your grass is around 5 cms all over.
- Don’t water too much: the lawn doesn’t need much water, even in summertime. An excess of water could provoke a plague or disease. Just make sure you water enough for the type of lawn you have.
- Cut it frequently: you should mow the lawn once or twice a week; this is essential. That way it will better absorb water and the roots will be stronger.
Also, if during winter a part of the lawn has become bare, you can resow it. Don’t forget to remove the weeds too.
Conclusion
If you take into account the above suggestions, your garden will likely endure the heat of summer better. And if you like plants, you could even choose some indoor plants for summertime, for a touch of nature inside as well.