How important is it to water your garden during the hot weather?

Well it’s not rocket science I hear you cry…. this may be true but it’s not an exact science either!

Believe it or not there are some common myths regards watering your garden, one of the top ones being that ‘water droplets on leaves during sunshine are magnified by the sun and scorch the leaves’ - different sites seem to say different things however the research suggests that this is indeed a myth. That is not to say that watering in the midday heat is the most effective time of day to water your garden but this is more due to evaporation rates than leaf scorch.

So what is the best time of day?

A good rule of thumb is to water early morning or dusk when the plants and grass has a higher rate of absorption but don’t overwater either. Ideally don’t let the water pour off the soil.

How much is too much?

Again this is not an exact science but as dry and parched as your grass can look they generally have more resilience and self-sufficiency than they appear. You might notice that plant that looked like it was dying with wilt at 2pm is vibrant and full of life again within an hour of watering. Likewise grass that looks like the Sahara quickly springs back to its lush green.

The winning ingredient…

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch….is the winning ingredient! Mulch is basically a covering of material be it hard material such as slate or soft material such as compost, chippings etc

The mulch serves many purposes though;

• Helps to retain moisture in the soil
• Protects the roots of plants from weather extremities
• Protects from some pests
• Improve soil organic matter and provide nutrients
• Suppress weeds

And then the question is what type of mulch is best to use? This is a longer answer than this blog post but

this RHS ‘mulch’ article on the matter is very informative.

In summary ensuring your garden has a good layering of mulch around your plants and beds is a winning tip.

Top tips

Do

• Water your grass and plants daily – ideally early morning or evening
• Get some good quality mulch on your plants and beds
• Water around the roots of your plants – enough to moisten but not to drown then leave till dry again to water again
• Slow watering, this ensures the water penetrates and doesn’t roll off the soil
• Move plants to shade where possible

Don’t

• Panic water
• Over water or drown – see slow watering tip above
• Avoid watering in midday heat