Things to do in the garden while it is hot

Now is the perfect time to think about the design of your garden. Gardens will be showing their weak links at this time of the year, if plants are not content with their location, water supply and soil type, they will let you know. Yellow leaves, wilting foliage and general ill thrift become apparent as the heat amps up.

If plants are not happy, they will let you know and even though its not ideal to act on their behaviour right now, you can make plans to deal with them later.

Getting the right plant in the right place is critical in getting your garden to thrive and survive the changing seasons. Gardens look there best when they are planned with the right plants, in regard to their cultural requirements, that is size, shape, wind tolerance, heat resistance, water needs and location.

Having shade at this time of the year is critical, shade cools your garden space, provides shelter, helps keep your house cooler, and adds another dimension to a garden that doesn’t exist in a garden in full sun.

Think about trees you can add to your garden, make sure they are the right size and shape for their location, along with providing colour and texture to your garden.

Many of the bulb catalogues come out at this time of the year, and scouring through them and picking bulbs to plant in the autumn is a great way to spend a hot summers afternoon.

It really is worth having an irrigation system in your garden. Dragging hoses and moving sprinklers in 40 degrees is not fun for anyone. If you are going to the trouble and expense of putting in plants, it really is worth making sure you have easy systems in place to water them. Its not hard to install a simple system and it will free up so much of your time.

Now is really not the time to fertilise your garden but with plants that are experiencing stress a dose of seasol can work like a tonic and give your plants some reprieve. I like to fill a watering can with water, add a few lids fulls of seasol and pour over the whole plant.

Your vegetable garden should be in full flight, harvesting and eating your produce is one of life’s little pleasures. Vegetable gardens can be a little demanding, but they are well worth the effort. As long as you have decent soil and extra water, you can have a veggie garden. Find a spot with plenty of sunlight, add lots of compost soil and manure and plant your favourite veggies, then water daily, for the best yield.