Summer gardening tips

Feeding your plants is another important job at this time of year, as they need the right nutrients to be able to thrive in warmer temperatures. Over the summer, you’ll want to feed your plants every 1 to 2 weeks with liquid fertiliser or plant food, making sure the soil is moist first. Feeding is especially important for container plants as they only have limited soil volume, meaning their roots aren’t able to spread further to find nutrients. It’s also important to keep your fruits and vegetables like tomatoes and peppers fed with a variety-specific feed.

Lightly cutting back perennials after flowering is a really important summer job as it encourages growth. When a plant’s flowers start to die, the plant then redirects energy to seed production, so taking away these dead blooms intervenes in this process, prompting the plant to put energy into growing new stems and roots. This means you’re effectively tricking the plant into blooming again, giving you a second bloom later in the summer, so its beautiful colours will last for longer.

Deadheading refers to the same process but in a much more targeted way. While cutting back perennials is a broader task that can also neaten edges and tidy up their look, deadheading refers to removing specific buds that may be dead or fading. Either way, both processes help to encourage blooming.

Watering is one of the most vital summer jobs, especially in dry summers. Of course, you need to keep your plants watered, ideally doing this first thing in the morning or in the evening. Give special attention to container plants, as again, they have limited soil to gather their water and nutrients from.

While watering is important, it’s just as vital to avoid overwatering, as this can suffocate plants by depriving them of oxygen, leading to things like root rot, fungal infections, and nutrient deficiency. To avoid this, make sure to check your plant’s soil before watering it by using your finger or a moisture meter. The top two inches of soil should be dry before watering. If they’re still damp, wait a few more hours. You also need to make sure container plants have proper drainage so excess water has somewhere to go.

To look after your plants, you’ll want to look after your soil as this is part of what helps them to survive. A good way to keep soil protected from drying out under the sun is to fill in gaps when early summer flowers start to fade. Plants with thick leaves will also help to provide shade to uncovered soil spots, stopping the soil from being vulnerable to weather and weed growth. If your soil is already of poorer quality, try sowing seeds of annuals that will thrive in these conditions that could bring it back to life and prevent weed growth.

Mulching is another thing you can do to give your soil the best possible environment to thrive. It can suppress weeds, improve the nutrients and water retention in your soil, and shade your soil from intense sunlight. The process involves adding a loose layer of mulch to the top of your soil. This can be anything from bark, to compost, to grass cuttings. Ideally, you’ll want your mulch to be at least 5cm thick depending on the type of material you’re using.

Top tip: Only use healthy, clean leaves and grass clippings as mulch.

Looking after your lawn during the summer is relatively easy. It doesn’t usually need cutting as often, and letting part, or even all, of your lawn grow a little longer creates a valuable habitat for wildlife. Longer grass also helps retain moisture during dry weather, reducing the risk of your lawn drying out and helping to keep it healthier for longer.

You’ll be spending a lot more time in your garden in the warmer months, so you’ll want it to look as neat and tidy as possible. The first thing you’ll want to do it deal with any weeds. You can do this by manually pulling them out and putting them onto your compost heap, or by treating them with a weed control product. 

Another garden maintenance task is clearing up dead leaves. This not only makes your garden look cleaner and fresher, but it also helps to prevent mould from forming and disease from spreading, and it removes slip hazards in wet weather. Thick piles of leaves can also stop sunlight from getting to soil that needs it.

Top tip: If you have children or pets, always check the product label before using weed control and follow the safety instructions.

Remember, it’s not just us humans that spend time in our gardens, a whole host of nature lives there and passes through every day. Warmer summer temperatures can be challenging for some animals, but there are ways you can help.

Wildlife needs access to water when it’s hot, so keep bird baths topped up daily so they can drink and bathe to cool down. This water needs to be clean too, so make sure to clean it out every few days to prevent bacteria and algae build up. Ideally, you should place bird baths in a shady spot to avoid evaporation, and keep them away from feeders to avoid food and droppings contaminating the water.

Think about how you can create good habitats for wildlife to live too. Bird boxes and hedgehog houses create shelter from the sun, and a patch of lawn left to grow into long grass creates a haven for butterflies and other wildlife to live and hide from predators.

Towards the end of summer, you can get planting again ready for next year. In August, it’s time to start planting autumn and winter bedding plants ready for the months ahead. It’s a good idea to do this while the soil is still warm as this allows plants to establish strong root systems, ready for harsher, colder weather conditions. Towards the very end of summer, you can also start to plant spring flowering bulbs such as tulips, crocuses, and daffodils.

While your plants are in full bloom, now is the perfect time to take cuttings to replant next year. Find healthy stems from some of your favourite plants and cut about 1cm below the root node (a swollen area on the stem). You can then root this cutting to begin a new plant.