HomeandGarden.ie Blog: How to protect your garden during a heatwave
Gardeners are frequently caught off guard by scorching temperatures, which cause struggling transplants to wilt just as their summer growth surge is supposed to be beginning. There are some easy steps gardeners may take to combat the heat and keep a garden flourishing, regardless of how hot the summer is.
The majority of widely grown vegetable crops and natural shrubs can endure sporadic heat waves without losing strength. The stress of intense heat, which dries and coats the soil in the first few inches, is too much for the shallow surface roots to handle. A gardener can lessen the impact of a heat wave on developing plants by keeping an eye on the soil’s health.
- In the morning, water your plants and bushes.
Rapid top soil drying during a heat wave can dehydrate superficial roots. Your plants will require thorough watering because, in hot weather, water is also lost through leaves. If you use a sprinkler to water, you should do this early in the morning since during the hotter parts of the day, the majority of the water from the sprinkler is lost to wind and evaporation.
Watering early in the day also avoids heat scald, which can harm leaves when watered under the hot sun. Smaller raised beds and containers, as well as seed and nursery beds, may require a second watering later in the day in extremely hot weather.
- Apply a reflective mulch, such as dry grass clippings, as mulch first.
Applying a thick layer of mulch around the plants is the first line of defense against hot weather and windy circumstances that can dry top soil. This shields the soil from the sun’s rays and keeps the top layer moist. Mulch also lessens the amount of water that evaporates from the soil, which lowers the need to water plants.
Gardeners can utilize a variety of different mulch materials. Mulches with light colors will reflect the sunshine during a heat wave, keeping the soil’s top layer cooler. We keep a section of uncut grass in our yard that is left to grow long so that it can be used as a ready source of mulch.
If you want to utilize freshly cut grass clippings as mulch, it is preferable to let them sit on the lawn for a few days before raking. The fresh green cuttings will become a light brown in a few sunny days and are then perfect for use as mulch.
The high nitrogen content of the green grass in previous years, when we used it as a mulch for our tomatoes that were just starting to flower, spurred vegetative development and stifled flowering. The result was that we had enormous tomato plants that produced very little in comparison to previous years.
Bark mulch is frequently used for shrub beds because it inhibits weed development, shades the soil, and aids in water conservation. To avoid introducing an invasive species to the shrub bed, gardeners should be aware that bark mulch can contain weed seeds.
A local gardener recently observed that horsetail, a stubborn pest that is challenging to eliminate, has overrun the bushes of nearly 50% of his clients. When purchasing bark mulch, be sure to enquire about the mulch’s origin and whether any complaints concerning weed seeds in the mulch have been made.
The necessity of water conservation is increased during a heat wave. The benefit of hand watering is that it provides each crop with precisely the proper amount of water. Compared to sprinklers, it is also a more effective way to water because just the intended crops are watered.
Because plant leaves are not moist, soaker hoses are perfect because they can be used at any time of day. Soaker hoses can be buried behind the mulch and used to reach the soil directly.
Given that conditions are drier in the morning than they are at night, watering is an excellent deterrent to slugs. Additionally avoided are fungus illnesses. Additionally, while the garden is still chilly in the morning, it is more enjoyable for you to water.
- 3. Find new transplants under the protection of your higher neighbours.
Transplants are most vulnerable to heat waves. Young starting plants have short root systems that are more vulnerable to dry weather in the top few inches of soil. You should avoid planting transplants until after the heat wave has subsided. However, if you have transplants that need to be planted, look for chances for partial shadowing given by taller, more mature plants.
Look for barren patches in the garden next to plants that are getting ready to be uprooted because you don’t want to place the transplants in a permanent shade region. The transplants will have access to the sun in this way once they are more established.
- Use protective row covers or shade cloth.
Garden centers sell shade cloth in a range of sizes, shades, and combinations that can provide garden plants with temporary and partial shelter from the sun. Shade factors, which describe how much sunlight is blocked, can range from 25% to 90%. While more heat-tolerant plants like squash and beans may benefit from a 30% shade cloth, sensitive plants like salad greens may need a 50–60% shade factor.
Although a shade cloth is only temporary, it should be placed carefully to prevent sunlight without limiting aeration. Shade fabric does not necessarily need to be placed around plants; typically, just one side or above the plant would do.
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