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The drought and heat over the past 2-3 weeks has been very tough on our yards and lawns. As rain continues to be scarce, here are some tips to improve moisture retention and to get through these hot times with little-to-no damage to your beloved plants.

GARDEN AREAS:

Make sure that these areas are mulched with 2+ inches of material. Mulch provides some much needed shade to the soil and prevents the ground from drying out and from the soil getting too compacted. Landscape rocks can work just as well if that is your preferred look.

LAWNS:

Water is so important, especially so for young grass that may have been planted last Fall or this past Spring. More mature lawns will probably be able to withstand the heat better, but weeks of little rain is very tough for any lawn! Here is what you can do...

- Use a lawn sprinkler to water in-between rainfalls. If we have not received rain for several days, it would be a good idea to water the lawn with a good drenching rain that soaks deep into the soil. A lawn sprinkler does a great job at slowly adding water so that the soil can absorb the water deep down. There are many different types of lawn sprinklers to choose from, including oscillating sprinklers (great for large, rectangular areas), impulse (or impact) orbital sprinklers, turret sprinklers (great for smaller areas), or even spot sprinklers.

- Fertilize with a low nitrogen, high iron formula. Organic lawn foods will not burn the lawn in these hot temperatures, so they are a great option for keeping lawns green with no risk of damage. Lawn foods with high iron content, such as Ironite or Milorganite are great options as well. Iron is an ingredient that turns leaves green without encouraging growth.

- Cut grass on HIGH. Allowing your grass to stand tall during the summer is a great way to help it survive. The tall grass keeps longer roots and helps to shade the soil more. The results are less weeds, and more durable grass. We recommend that you always mow grass at one of the 2 or 3 highest settings on your lawn mower, but during a hot summer, it is more critical than ever.

POTTED PLANTS:

Plants in containers need lots of attention when the weather is hot. This is because the soil can heat up much quicker as all side of the container are exposed to the hot air temperatures and roots are often limited to the extent that they can grow. Potted plants need to be watered 1X or 2X daily to keep up with these hot temperatures. We would recommend using plant foods around once per week to encourage growth and more blooms. Products such as Miracle Gro's bloom booster is a great product to use to encourage blooms without excessive growth!

- You could also consider adding a product such as Soil Moist or some perlite to the potting soil to increase moisture retention. these are lightweight products that hold moisture and release it when needed.

- There are also vacation watering systems that allow you to fill up a bottle of water and insert them into the soil as spare water. These are typically sold for indoor plants when away from your home, but we have had an increasing number of customer using them outside during the hot weather. This is a great way to water your plants and allow the bottle to provide supplemental watering until you are able to re-water.

We hope that these tips help your plants survive the hot summer months! Happy gardening everyone :)

Derek Satterfield