Summer Landscaping Tips to Keep Your Yard Looking Beautiful During the Heat
Summers in Los Angeles (California) can be punishing for lawns, landscaping plants, and trees. Summer high temperatures often remain in the mid-80s, and we receive less rain, leaving plants stressed from both heat and a lack of water.
But that doesn’t mean your yard can’t look great all year! You can keep lawns green, flowers blossoming, and shrubs and trees providing cooling shade by making a few easy changes to your landscape management activities. Rototiller Guy aids in the preservation of your smile.
THE FOLLOWING POINTERS CAN HELP YOUR LANDSCAPING THRIVE THIS SUMMER:
Summer Landscape Tips
Use Correct Watering Techniques
Summer watering does not need draining your well or incurring exorbitant water bills. Both overwatering and underwatering might damage your plants. So, instead of soaking your environment in unneeded water, irrigate smartly.
- Recognize the output of your irrigation system or sprinklers (if you have one). Here’s how to calculate the amount of water emitted.
- One inch of water each week is ideal for lawns (including rain if we get any).
- Containers and hanging baskets require more frequent watering, often twice a day if exposed to direct sunlight.
- Check on them frequently to check if they require water. Simply insert your finger into the dirt up to the 2nd The plant needs water if it is dry. Alternatively, if it’s a little pot or hanging basket, raise it up. If it’s light, add some water.
- During a heatwave, attempt to relocate potted plants to a shaded, cooler location.
- To reduce watering demands, we propose utilizing self-watering Aqua Pots.
- Water early in the morning to allow plants time to absorb moisture before temperatures rise.
- Plants require a lot of water. Water should reach the plant’s roots, which are normally at least 6 inches deep.
- Look out for withering. Plants are the best indicator of when they want water—when they wilt, it indicates that they require water. However, try to water them before they begin to droop!
- Understand your soil type. Plants grown in sandy soil require more regular watering than those grown in clay soil.
- Water garden beds and plants with drip irrigation systems or soaker hoses rather than sprinklers. It is significantly more efficient since the water is sent directly to the plant’s roots and does not evaporate as quickly. Furthermore, it protects vulnerable plants, such as phlox and roses, against foliar fungal infections.
Apply Organic Mulch to the Bare Soil
In summer Landscaping , a covering of mulch is important for keeping cool. Organic mulch decreases evaporation, lowers soil temperature, inhibits weed development (weeds fight for water with your plants), and looks beautiful!
Mulch around plants where there is bare soil with a 2 to 3-inch layer. It is also suitable for use in containers. To prevent moisture accumulation and decay, keep it away from plant stems and tree trunks.
High Mow the Lawn
Many people cut their lawns excessively short, exposing them to drought stress and heat damage.
The optimum lawn height for the turfgrass varieties found in mid-Michigan is between 3 and 5.5 inches. That is far greater than the majority of individuals who mow their lawns!
Cutting your grass taller minimizes stress and helps the lawn green up without the use of additional fertilizer. Taller grass shadows the soil, keeping fragile grass cool, preserving soil moisture, and shading away weeds, reducing the need for pesticides.
We also propose that you leave the grass cuttings on the lawn. They enrich the soil by adding nitrogen, organic matter, and moisture. A single season of grass clippings is equivalent to one fertilizer treatment. Every time you mow, you’re enhancing the soil and feeding the lawn!
Deadhead annuals that are in Bloom
Annuals are Landscaping plants that go from seed to death in a single growing season. Their natural impulse is to generate as many seeds as possible to ensure the continuation of the plant’s life cycle. When they begin to produce seeds, they devote all of their energy to growing those seeds to maturity, rather than squandering energy on generating new blossoms.
We need to “trick” the plant into continuing to flower rather than setting seeds because we normally grow flowering annuals for their flowers. This can be accomplished by removing spent flowers (“deadheading”) before they set seed. This is a simple procedure; simply select or clip off the withering blooms every few days, and the plant will continue to bloom.
Maintain Harvesting Efforts
Harvest your fruits, veggies, and herbs as soon as they are mature (or even just before). Overripe or decaying fruit and vegetables attract a variety of pests (including squirrels and raccoons) and can spread fungal diseases to neighboring plants. Vegetables that go unharvested might get stale. If you’ve ever found a massive zucchini buried behind a tangle of leaves, you know how mealy, rough, and seedy they can be! Herbs that aren’t clipped back on a regular basis will eventually die and fall to seed.
Plants should not be stressed.
During the summer, avoid doing anything that would put a plant under additional stress. Avoid significant trimming, splitting, or transplanting, and treating with a high nitrogen fertilizer.
Landscaping, It’s fine to remove damaged or dead sections of a plant, shrub, or tree, but don’t overdo it. The plant’s leaves assist to chill it and shade the ground around it. Furthermore, heavy pruning encourages new growth, which depletes the plant’s energy reserves, allowing it to endure the summer heat.
Look for yourself.
Last but not least, remember to look after yourself! Heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and even death can result from excessive heat exposure. We always encourage people to spend time in their gardens, but we ask that they do it responsibly.
Drink plenty of water. Carry and utilize a water bottle! You require the same amount of water as your plants.
If you want to work in the garden, do so first thing in the morning, before the sun comes up.
When going outside, wear a hat and apply sunscreen.