How do you prevent your garden from suffering from the heat wave experienced on the Gold Coast in the first few weeks of the New Year?
The abnormally high temperatures and drying winds put your garden plants under extreme stress, but our team at Transforming Gardens have a few tips to keep your garden healthy and vigorous during the summer months.
Our top tips for water retention
1. Add mulch
Mulching is the optimal way to keep moisture within the plant root zone. Applying a mulch 75-100mm plants around your plants has the added benefit of suppressing weeds and keeping the soil cooler and also encouraging beneficial earthworms. Types of mulch that our team use includes, Cypress, tea tree, pine and sugar cane mulch.
2. Apply a soil wetter or water crystals
Proprietary wetting agents, like Seasol and water crystals are available from any garden centre and help improve water penetration by breaking water repellency and keeping the precious water in close proximity to the root zone. Note: If your garden has mulch, pull back from around the plants and apply directly to the soil.
3. Water deeply
Water in the morning and ensure you give your plants a good soaking. Ensure that you are watering deeply around the root zone, as this is where the water is needed most. Don’t be fooled after a shower of rain that you think you won’t need to water. Scratch back the mulch and check with a fork, as sometimes the rain is not intense enough to go into the ground.
4. Lawns
During summer, raise the height of your lawn mower as mowing too low will encourage the grass to grow faster. Try not to water the lawn before and after you’ve mowed and avoid mowing in the hottest part of the day,to keep the moisture within the root zone.
5. Hoses and fittings
Always check your irrigation, hoses and fittings for leaks. The UV radiation can break down the plastic pipes and fittings and reduce the water flow to where it is needed most.