5 Ways to Prepare Your Garden for the Hot Summer Season

While the refreshed mulch, growing grass, and blooming flowers of spring are a soothing sight to the eye, being lulled into assuming that you don’t have to put in any further effort is a mistake made by many. Remember, preparing your garden for the anticipated hot temperatures is essential to keeping the beautiful yard from turning into a wrecked mess.

So without further ado, let’s discover the top tips and tricks that will help you enjoy your summer garden to the fullest this year!

Make a Garden Map

Drawing up a garden map simplifies things and makes the process much more exciting. This is because having a “birds-eye-view” of the garden’s layout allows you to make a somewhat accurate estimate of the number of plants and seeds you will need, along with assisting you in keeping a record of what is planted where (even if you lose the plant tags).

Below is a list of some common steps you can try out for an effective mapping procedure.

• Set a scale. Measure the length and width of your garden and draw a garden layout accordingly with, for example, one box representing one square foot of real garden soil.

• Draw the framework, including the perimeters of your garden, common environmental factors (such as the pattern of the Sun, direction of water drainage, dry or rainy areas, wind direction, etc.), and any potential obstacles (like irrigation heads, lamp posts, etc.) you will be dealing with.

• Add plants and crops. Before placing the crops, make sure to consider the specific needs of each specie. Some plants need more Sunlight; some need more water; others need more wind, and so on. Once you’ve determined the best spot for each plant, use different colours to label different plants on the map and record the colours on a separate page.

Clean Your Tools

Giving your tools a deep clean — especially when they’ve accumulated layers of dust from being stored away in the winter — will make work more efficient, protect the equipment for longer, and reduce friction and rust.

For a thorough deep clean, start by disassembling each tool. Use a wire brush to remove all the dust and dirt. Pro Tip: Use steel wool to remove stubborn dust. Follow this by smoothing out all wooden handles with medium-grit sandpaper to remove splinters and get rid of any deteriorated touch. Next, sharpen the tools with a whetstone to get a honed cutting edge. Finally, lubricate the tools to keep them in a good state for the entire season.

Tidy Up the Flower Beds

With dead foliage and leaves falling from trees in the autumn, flower beds tend to collect a fair few during the winter. Use a rake or pruning shear to remove all the debris from the garden while being careful not to harm any plants showing up. Don’t forget to weed the flowerbeds to freshen up the garden. You can use your hands to dig out the weeds completely or simply cover them with a thick layer of mulch.

Improve the Soil

Preparing the soil is the key to a beautiful garden. The best part? Bringing the winter season’s “dead dirt” to life requires only a few simple and easy steps.

1. Add organic matter. From compost and green manures to mulches and aged animal manures, there are multiple ways to increase the organic content of the soil. Pro Tip: We recommend adding 1-3 inches every year.

2. Mulch the soil. Layer a leafy mulch, like straw, grass, clippings, or leaves for vegetables. Wood chips or bark mulch will do well for shrubs, perennials, or flowers.

3. Add water. After adding nutrients, fertilisers, and mulch, water the soil to check if it absorbs water. If not, sprinkle a soil-wetting agent to improve water absorption.

Plant Summer Flowering Plants & Bulbs

Adding blooming perennials and annuals is a fun way to brighten up your summer garden. Whether you want to plant easy-to-grow summer flowers like dahlia, poppy, sunflowers, or marigolds or want to opt to give your flower beds a fancier look with snapdragons, black-eyed Susans, or daylilies, flowers can make your summertime garden dreamy and lovely.

To add extra dimension and interest, pair your imagination with the following landscape designs.

• Plant taller plants on the back side.

• Fill the central parts with medium-height plants.

• Use plants that like to “spill” on the front line.

• Add compact and shorter flowers as edgings.

Feel free to incorporate interesting features like bird baths, benches, waterfalls, etc. and other low-maintenance landscape ideas for a stunning garden.

Conclusion

Gardening in the summer is an enjoyable pastime loved by many. But remember, beginning without good preparation will lead to frustration and stress, making it feel like a hectic chore. So regardless of whether you’re a newbie or a gardening pro, following the aforementioned tips can definitely help.