Well, its back.
Summer is here again, the southerly buster is blowing, a few warm days have got the air cons going again and we all know what’s next. Yep, it’s going to get hot, damn hot and our gardens are going to need a little bit of a help to get through the next months.
Prevention is always better than a cure and now is a good time to do a few extra jobs to that will save plants and time down the track. The first step is to check all the reticulation, is it still on winter cycle, has it got new batteries, are all the sprinklers working. A good plan is to put on some old clothes on a warm day and run the cycles manually. Get in there and follow the lines starting from the start. Go to each sprinkler or dripper in turn and take the tops off and let the water run out and replace them. that will make sure there are no roots or ants blocking them, sure you will get wet but that’s why it’s good to do on a warm day. If you have spare lines and sprinklers on standby this will make this job, go faster.
Next is a good spring clean, pick up all the leaves and litter, no point leaving a snake habitat around and making sure your prepared for a potential mice plague will help as well.
Next, it’s time to think about how to conserve as much water as possible so your soil does not dry out which will kill all your beneficial microbes and become hydrophobic. Mulch is the key; a good deep mulch will shade the ground as well as insulate the soil at the same time which will prevent evaporation.
Once the maintenance is done, it’s time to feed your plants. Summer is when most growth happens, and growing plants need food. Now is the time for compost, but often compost can be missing some of the crucial trace elements. That’s when a judicial dose of some slow-release fertiliser with added trace elements is going to help. Something to think about in a hot climate like ours is to be careful of slow release that has a wax coating. the wax can melt in our heat, so look for a resin coated slow release as it will release the nutrients over the recommended time.
Now, it’s time to grab a cold beer, pour a wine or make a cup of tea and sit down and look over your garden and enjoy its beauty and feel good about your accomplishments.