Gardeners have been urged to do one thing in their garden today. David Glass, head gardener at Bowood House & Gardens has provided his top tips on helping your garden thrive in hot weather.
David suggested main thing to do is mulching. Adding a thick layer onto soil and around plants is a great way to keep soil from becoming too dry. “Mulching is something I do across the gardens at Bowood,” David told Muddy Stilettos. “It locks in moisture, improves the soil, and keeps weeds at bay. You can use bark, compost, and even stone chippings in pots. If you mulch well, you won’t need to water quite so often.” This will be important this Friday (June 13), when Britain will enjoy a sweltering 30C mini-heatwave.
Swathes of the UK will be transformed from stormy into a scorching summer paradise as new weather maps reveal a huge heat spike will see the temperature soar to 30C.
The heatmap by WXCharts show Canterbury and other parts of Kent will see the hottest weather on Friday 13th June with 30C predicted – with other areas of the southeast of England 28-29C
During hot weather, the gardener also suggested timing when you water your garden carefully. “I always recommend watering during the coolest parts of the day,” says David.
“Try to do it either first thing in the morning or in the evening. This gives the water more time to soak into the soil and avoids it evaporating in the sun. If you water during the hottest parts of the day, most of the moisture disappears before it even reaches the roots.”
“Weeds are surprisingly thirsty, so keep your borders weed-free and make sure the water you do use goes to the right plants,” says David. “It’s a simple job that makes a real difference, especially when water is scarce.”
He also reminded people that lawns will go brown in hot weather and “that’s perfectly normal”. David said: “Grass is very resilient and will bounce back once the rain inevitably returns.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about watering grass on a daily basis. Instead, give it a good soak every ten days, which is far better than a light splash here and there.”