How To Prepare Your Garden For Summer

Hey Guys,
I hope everyone is doing well.

This is the next instalment as part of this week's mini-series about how to prepare your garden for various times of the year.

Today's focus is on preparing your garden for the long, hot days of summer.
Summer is one of the hardest seasons to manage in terms of managing your garden, and there's a simple reason for this... summer heat and dryness can create significant stress in some plants and it can also encourages vigorous growth in others.... particularly those pesky weeds which we really don't want!

But don't let the daunting task of summer garden prep put you off... summer can be one of the best times to spend as much time as possible outdoors.
So let's dive right in to the world of summer garden prep:

1: Weeding!: This feels like something that has to be included in every single post I've done about garden prep because it really is that important.
Start weeding early in the season to gain momentum and stay ahead of those pesky weeds. Acting quickly really is the key here as weeding early can prevent the weeds from flowering and inevitably going to seed so you can prevent them from spreading by weeding early.
2: Mulch: This is another aspect that is included on most of the posts I've done before, this is because your garden really does love mulch and it pays for itself in terms of productivity in your garden. Mulch in the early spring to take advantage of the wetter weather in spring so that your soil can maintain even moisture.
3: Add Colour: When it comes to a colourful garden, spring is the time of year that really spoils us because it's the time of year where everything is new, it's vibrant and exciting because most flowers, shrubs and trees are beginning to flower. On the other hand, summer is a much greener time of year, green is the most dominant colour in your garden during the summer, but all is not lost... it's a good idea to have layers of spring, summer and autumn-blooming perennials and add annuals to keep that sense of vibrancy and colour going throughout the growing season.
4: Start Composting: The upside to composting is that it's not really a complicated process and it's really hard to get it wrong and composting is a huge benefit for your garden because good compost can massively improve your soil quality, and what's even better is that you can start composting..... and it's absolutely free! All you need to do is get a compost bin, you can even recycle an old container if you have one laying around. Add garden waste and kitchen waste (such as fruit or veggie peelings) and the rotting process creates great compost.
5: Collect & Recycle Rainwater: This is especially important if you live in an area which has long, hot, dry summers with very little rain. It's a good idea to collect rainwater during the rainy times of the year to help ease the pressure when there's little to no rain at all. Rainwater is slightly more beneficial to your garden as tap water can be slightly more alkaline which can harm some varieties of plants.

Next up, we're going to be looking at the benefits of a summer garden before moving on to preparing your garden for fall/autumn.

Thank you for reading,
Until next time,
Kim