Maintaining your garden in the summer: our 5 tips

Summer can be a difficult time for the garden: between holidays and hot weather, plants can suffer, hence the need to give them special care. Check out our top tips for keeping a well-maintained garden through the summer to autumn!

Water the flowers well

While some species such as gazania do not require watering, most flowers needthem. Thisis why it is probably the plants that suffer the most in the summer. In order to keep beautiful flower beds, it is important to provide them with sufficient water supply.

Some tips for this:

• Water them in theevening, to prevent evaporative water losses that tend to be more consequential during the day, when temperatures are higher;
• Think about weeding or hoeing the soil around the plants so that water can easily penetrate them, as soon as it rains or you water manually. This step is very important, especially in times of drought where the crust formed on the surface of the earth sometimes prevents water from reaching the roots;
• If possible, opt for a drip micro-irrigation system with a programmer, in order to anticipate a regular watering of your flowers, even when you go on vacation. If you have such a system, of course, consider scheduling watering in the evening or at night, as explained above.

Maintaining its massifs

Beyond requiring regular watering in sufficient quantities,some flowers in your beds will need regular maintenance.

Weeds that grow at the foot of the massifs will have to be removed so that they do not feed on the water and nutrients in the soil at the expense of your plants; but also cut the wilted flowers to ensure a beautiful and long flowering with the most robust cuttings.

Annual potted or garden flowers, as is often the case with petunias, capuchins or pelargoniums, will need to be regularly added tofertilizer.

Mowing your lawn

This seems obvious but the lawn, to keep a nice appearance, must be mowed regularly. If in the spring it takes only one mowing per week (thegrass is vigorous after its long winter restperiod),the entry into the summer period allows d’to spacethe mowing..

So,you can just mow once every 2 or 3 weeks in the summer. Also consider increasing the cutting height by a few centimetres to preserve the soil from the heat and allow it to better retain its moisture.

In addition tohaving a good pitch of grass, it is necessary towater the lawn if it is to maintain a beautiful appearance. For this reason, choose to water in the evening, for the same reasons as those mentioned above. Automatic watering techniques exist for turf too, whether it is a surface sprinkler (more suitable for small surfaces), or a buried sprinkler system (practical for large areas). Be careful, however, to adjust them well, so as not to overload the soil with water... Or waste resources! The best option is to install a rainwater collector,so as not to lose a drop of what nature has to offer.

Chouchout your vegetable garden

Summer is the perfect time to spend time in the vegetable garden. As with flower beds, the summer period is conducive to weeding and maintenance work such as hoeing, in order to allow plants to receive all the nutrients and water necessary for their good growth.

If the need to water goes without saying (always in the evening or at night, if possible thanks to a drip micro-irrigation system and even more so if equipped with a programmer), you can also straw your vegetable garden in order to preserve soil moisture and limit the evaporation of water once this watering is done.

Harvest fruits and vegetables

Notice to foodies! You will take advantage of the summer months to harvest vegetables planted in the spring - tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, onions and shallots, melons, artichokes, strawberries and raspberries, etc.

July will also be a good time to plant some vegetables: leeks, salads and radishes will grow very well, especially since there is no longer any risk that they will freeze. Aromatic herbs such as basil, bear garlic, dill or parsley will also bloom in summer...

Don't hesitate to pick the fruits of apple, pear and peach trees near that they are ripe in order to reduce the load on the branches and guarantee beautiful fruit. If you notice the presence of worms on their surface, apply a treatment (natural if possible, for example, you can use a mixture of red wine, apple vinegar and water) to get rid of it.

Summer is a time when the garden requires maintenance, but it also offers a lot of pleasure to sgardeners,who reap the fruits of theirwork..

To find the right equipment to garden go to multitanks.fr. Also, please contact us for practical advice or information about our products.