Charlie Albone shares his tips for creating a garden that can handle the harsh Australian summer.
Surviving the Australian summer can be difficult with the highest temperatures we experience all year, so how do you keep gardening and what can you do to help your plants through this testing season?
You can start by helping your plants out by improving the soil so it can hold onto moisture and nutrients for longer by adding some compost, mushroom compost, or cow manure. Dig this through where possible but in established beds, you can use it as a mulch and let the worms do the hard work for you whilst protecting the roots of the plant stock.
Adding a granulated soil wetter to the mix and to all garden beds will ensure any rain or irrigation gets into the soil effectively to maximize uptake to the plants. Your soil may not be hydrophobic, but the addition of a soil wetter can prevent the build-up of bad bacteria and is a good gardening practice.
Water in your soil wetter wisely, obviously you don’t want to be out in the heat of the day as you’ll lose excess moisture through evaporation, but early morning or evening is best and lock it all into the soil with 75mm of mulch.
- Summer Lawns
- Sun and Shade
- Lawn Selection
- Planting Vegetables