Warm weather can bring plenty of life to the garden, but it can also damage plants and the lawn, further damaged by carrying out certain jobs such as feeding.
1. Do not feed your lawn
Gardening guru at Miracle-Gro, Kate Turner, explained: “Don’t feed your lawn when it’s already scorched.
“The ground needs to be moist for any feed to work so unless you have been irrigating your lawn from the start, wait until autumn to start tender lawn care.
“Lawns will nearly always recover during autumn so it’s more important to look after your plants during this dry season.”
2. Do not water plants little and often
According to the expert, this will only encourage roots to come to the surface of the soil and then be dried out by the sun.
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Instead, water generously and less frequently to encourage roots to stay down in the soil and it’ll be greatly appreciated by plants.
3. Do not water in the middle of the day
The expert said: “This will only lead to instant evaporation of the water so it is a waste of your time and water.”
The gardening pro recommended watering in the evening or early in the morning if you do not find the time in the evening.
Make sure to direct the water to the roots with a watering can, avoiding the leaves which encourages diseases.
It is also important to think about where plants are positioned in the garden. If they are in direct sunlight throughout the day, they may need watering both morning and evening.
4. Do not water the whole garden
Kate continued: “Don’t water the whole garden, only focus on the plants that really need it.
“Most important are those in containers, so group them together and place them altogether in the shade if you can.”
Gardeners should also feed weekly with a liquid feed which can be purchased from garden centres.
5. Do not plant
The expert explained: “Now is not the time to plant anything other than small plants in containers.
“The soil will be hard and the roots won’t reach down into the soil so they will need constant watering and will be stressed by the heat.
“Wait until the autumn when the soil is still warm but when there will be a regular supply of rain.
“Apart from the lawn, don’t stop gardening. Keep watering as above and add a layer of mulch to help retain the moisture and reduce evaporation after watering.
“In the beds and borders this can be bark chips, compost or rotted manure and in your pots you can use extra compost, gravel or decorative bark chips to help keep the moisture in.”
