5 Tips to Help Your Garden Survive a Heat Wave
As the Perth temperatures are set to soar, it’s crucial to keep your plants cool and thriving. Here are my top 5 tips!
1. Efficient watering
The most important and obvious tip of them all, is watering. But how much? How often? And what time of day should you be watering your garden?
During a heat wave, you should be hand watering your plants daily, at a time when they are not in direct sunlight. Watering early in the morning or late in the evening is a must to minimise evaporation and ensure the water is reaching deep into the root system. Early in the morning is more beneficial as it will provide your plants with moisture throughout the day to help survive the heat. But if you’re like me and not a morning person or just look forward to coming home from work to water your garden, watering in the evening is also fine and will provide your plants with enough moisture for the coming day.
Reticulation for my precious lawn and garden beds is set to start from 4am, running for roughly 50 minutes for the lawn using water saving sprinklers (you should halve this time if you don’t have water saving sprinklers) and 30 minutes in the garden beds. You’ll need to make sure to check your watering days first though, and just remember to give your plants a little extra hand watering love on the non-sprinkler days.
2. Listen to your plants
Prune off any dead or dying leaves and branches - don’t waste your plant’s energy trying to regenerate these aspects of the plant and let it focus on keeping what’s healthy, healthy! Be careful not to trim too deep though, as your plants need as much protection as possible during a heat wave.
Are the leaves looking droopy and sad? If that is the case, that's a clear sign they're thirsty and you need to give them a good soak.
Are the leaves showing signs of yellow or burn? If they are, and are in pots, move them into a shady area of the garden or undercover. Or if moving them isn’t an option, set up some temporary sun protection to shield them from the intense sun. Although not very sexy, I use a shade cloth and wooden stakes to protect delicate plants during heat waves.
3. Check your reticulation system is working
The last thing you want to find is that you have a burst pipe or broken sprinkler and now half your lawn is brown. Check that your sprinklers are working correctly and are reaching their desired area. Plus, make sure to check that your batteries aren’t running low!
You can also look to increase the duration of your sprinklers for each station to ensure your grass and garden is getting a deep water. And take note of tip #1 to ensure that you’re watering at the right time of the day!
4. Weed!!!
When temperatures soar, weeds will be competing with your plants for life. By taking the time to weed, you're ensuring that the precious water and nutrients available are directed towards your desired plants. By removing these unwanted intruders, you’ll help your plants cope better with the heat stress and reduce the overall strain on them.
5. Fertilise once the temperature cools down
With temperatures set to drop down to below 30 degrees on Tuesday here in Perth, it’s the perfect time to give your garden some plant food and help it restore itself after sweating it out in the heat. The cooler weather makes it easier for them to absorb the nutrients and bounce back from the scorching days. I use Seasol as a good all-round fertiliser which helps to stimulate strong root development which increases their resistance to heat in the future.
Stay cool 🥵
Clarence xx