The summer season is approaching, and the spring flowers are blooming at their peak. It’s only a matter of time until the temperature goes over 35 degrees Celsius, which means that your garden will need more care and attention. It’s important to get garden soil delivery for creating a better plant base, but there are various gardening tips that can help you keep your plants healthy even in the scorching summer temperatures.
1. Look Out for Weeds
Weeds are inevitable when you have a lawn, and they just grow more during the summer season. Weeds can be extremely harmful to fruit and flower plants, which is why it’s important to keep them under control and hinder their growth.
For this purpose, you can apply mulch because it not only deters weed growth, but it also helps minimize the runoff and surface crusting. It is suggested to opt for organic mulch because it has compost, leaves, dried grass clippings, bark, and pine needles that don’t pose any harm to the plants as compared to synthetic mulch with chemicals.
Secondly, you can also use weed mats as it prevents the weed seeds from getting into the soil. In addition, using a weed mat will prevent the need to use herbicides. A weed mat also helps retain soil moisture as it limits evaporation and promises erosion control.
2. Fertilization
There is an endless range of fertilizers available in the market, but you have to get the one that’s suitable for your plants. In addition, summer-friendly fertilizers are particularly formulated to help the soil retain water and keep the roots buried on a deeper level. Fertilizers also help control weed growth. Along with summer-friendly fertilizers, you can use low-nitrogen fertilizers to stimulate plant growth.
3. Plant the Vegetables
The summer and spring seasons are perfect for growing plants, and there are some vegetables that thrive the best during the summer season. Some of these include beans, zucchini, squash, celery, peppers, and corn. This is because these vegetables need more exposure to the sun and warmer soil, making summer an apt time for growing these vegetables.
For a better yield in your vegetable garden, consider raising honeybees. These bees are great pollinators of food crops and flowering plants, helping them reproduce. They help plants grow by collecting pollen, transporting it to other flowers, and planting it in the female parts of the flowers they visit. Honeybees are great for the environment overall. Before you start raising bees, make sure you do ample research, get guidance from beekeeping pros, and secure healthy honeybees for your first hive.
4. Watering Schedule
With long exposure to the sun, the plants obviously need more water. However, when you water the plants can directly influence their ability to absorb water. So, during the summer season, it is better to water plants in the late evening or early morning, basically during the colder time of the day. It gives time for water to penetrate into the soil and reach the plant roots.
On the other hand, if you water plants around noon, sun exposure will cause evaporation of water, which means water won’t reach the roots at all. You must also get new garden soil delivery to make sure there is enough soil for covering the plant roots. To summarize, redo your plant watering schedule to ensure your plants are well-hydrated.
5. Pruning
As summer is just starting, it’s the most suitable time to prune the spring-flowering shrubs, including weigela and philadelphus. You must prune off the growth that has finished flowering and cut it down to the outward-facing flower buds. In addition, if there are crossing and damaged branches, they should be pruned off as well.
Pruning will help clear the damaged parts of the plant that are hindering growth. Since summer is the ultimate growth season, the plants will grow faster and be healthier. Lastly, you must remove dead leaves and foliage to make sure the healthier parts of the plant are not infected.
6. Soil Preparation
The soil needs to allow quick spread and development of roots, and how the soil is prepared can directly impact plant growth, particularly in the summer season. First of all, the soil has to be tilled to spread out water and nutrients throughout the surface. Before tilling, you must check the utility lines to prevent damage to the pipes and cables.
While preparing the soil, it’s suggested that you add organic materials, such as eggshells, vegetable skins, fruit skins, and other organic mulch to enhance the nutritional profile of the soil.