THE summer heat can cause damage to your garden – but there are way to protect your yard.
To beat the summer heat, it's important to know the makeup of your garden to plan accordingly, according to the landscaping experts at Marshalls.
For example, you may want to add mulch to your flower and vegetable patches to keep cool if they are in a particularly sunny spot.
The experts also recommend watering your plants and garden at a cooler time of the day.
Also, to make sure your crops remain healthy, remember to water your veggies at least once a day.
You may also want to shelter them from the sun with a small canopy.
Gardening is not an easy job, so be sure to pace yourself while you're working outside, the experts remind us. Try working on your garden during cooler hours and take time to relax and enjoy the sunshine.
Read our gardening blog for news and updates…
- By Amanda Castro
Composting at home: Turn the heap
It’s important to keep an eye on your pile and turn it as needed after it starts to take shape.
This introduces air into the mix, which is necessary for composting to take place.
Depending on the size of your pile and the materials in it, a turn with a spade once or twice a week should be enough.
In warmer weather, don’t forget to add water when the heap becomes dry.
- By Amanda Castro
Composting at home: Feed it the right materials
While it may appear that you may throw anything into your compost bin, there are several items that should be avoided.
Meat and dairy products, which attract pests, as well as any high-processed meals, fall into this category.
The list of items you can put in, on the other hand, is extensive.
Fruit and vegetable peelings, offcuts, coffee grounds, tea leaves, grass clippings, dried leaves, manure, herbs, and hair are all acceptable ingredients.
- By Amanda Castro
Composting at home: Balance the materials
It’s critical to have the correct materials mixed in the bin.
Soft green elements, such as grass clippings, weeds, or vegetable kitchen waste, should account for 25 to 50 percent of the total, with woody brown materials, such as wood chippings, accounting for the balance.
It’s also a good idea not to allow any one element, particularly grass clippings, to dominate the heap.
- By Amanda Castro
Composting at home: Choose your container
Place the bottomless container in a shaded area of your garden once you’ve settled on it.
It may be placed on any surface, but if it’s going to be on hard ground, be sure to add a spadeful of dirt to the bin first.
Then lay a few inches of whatever logs or branches you can find on top of that to help aerate the pile.
- By Amanda Castro
How to start composting at home
While it may appear difficult, home composting is actually rather simple – even for those with the tiniest kitchens and gardens.
It may also be done at any time of year, however, the best period to make compost is from late summer to early winter.
- By Amanda Castro
Composting explained
Composting is an eco-friendly method of disposing of kitchen and yard waste.
It entails the natural conversion of organic waste such as leaves and vegetable scraps into fertilizer.
Because it is high in nutrients, it may be utilized as a soil improver.
- By Amanda Castro
Gardening trends you’ll want to avoid this summer
Like most things, gardening comes with seasonal trends.
Various experts predict some of the trends that’ll be flooding your Pinterest boards and social media channels once summer kicks in.
They’ve warned people to steer clear of trends that, while popular, will make your garden look tacky and prevent your plants from flourishing over the summer.
They suggest avoiding the following trends,
- Overplanting
- Artificial grass
- Colorful fences
Flattening a bumpy lawn, concluded
Fill the uneven patches using a hard-bristled brush to create a level surface, and water them well to encourage new grass to grow.
Finally, sow some fresh grass seeds on any areas that are bare and need re-covering.
Make sure to distribute more on scarce patches or on lumps that have born torn up.
Always lay grass seeds on a mild, spring day and make sure to water them well once the seeds have been sown.
More on how to flatten a bumpy lawn
Make sure to water the areas well to encourage new grass to grow to create a seamless finish.
For larger lumps and bumps, you’ll need a few extra tools.
Start by mowing the lawn and then use a rake to uplift thatch (clumps of dead grass) and other organic matter.
Once you’ve removed uneven patches, top-dress them with sand and soil using a 40:60 ratio.
- By Amanda Castro
How to flatten out a bumpy lawn
Flattening out bumpy ground can be done at any time of the year, but the gardening experts at The Daily Express reported it is best to get started in spring.
Start with smaller bumps (less than one inch) and simply use your foot to press them firmly down.
If you have holes made by animals, fill them with topsoil, compressing the earth with your foot to create a solid surface.
- By Amanda Castro
Hanging a water bottle
You could create another slow-release watering system by hanging a plastic bottle over your plants.
Simply take a bottle, pierce tiny holes in the bottom half and then enclose the bottle in a sock – other fabric should work just as fine.
You can then hang this above your plant by securing it to a stick that rests inside of your plant pot – but make sure it’s done so securely.
Just like with the “magic” burying method, the plants will have a steady flow of water.
- By Amanda Castro
Water your plants with a ‘magic’ water bottle trick
Gardening experts have said that a cheap, plastic water bottle can be an eco-friendly watering tool for gardeners.
“Using a plastic water bottle to create a simple, yet effective, watering system is a great solution to repurpose an item that could otherwise end up in a landfill,” expert Sara Dixon said.
To make the irrigation system, simply poke holes in the water bottle and cover it with a sock or another piece of fabric before burying it inside of the planter – with the opening visible at the top of the soil.
The small holes mean the bottle will act as a slow-release watering system.
- By Amanda Castro
Best time to remove weeds revealed
De-weeding after a spell of rain could save you a lot of time and hassle and lead to a healthier garden, according to One Good Thing.
You’ll have a much easier time removing weeds when the ground is wet because damp soil is more flexible and should allow you to rip out the root of a weed intact.
Yes, there is an extra mess but it’s much easier than trying to dislodge weeds when the ground is rock-hard.
It also minimizes ripping the body from the stem, getting a clean sweep instead.
- By Amanda Castro
How to make cut flowers last longer
Cut flowers can last for weeks with just three simple household items: sugar, bleach, and optional fresh lemon juice.
It’s also important to change the water often and trim the stems.
About a teaspoon of sugar and a drop of two or bleach will combine with the flower’s water to help the plants stay fresh
- By Amanda Castro
Sugar can also be used as a fertilizer
Sugar helps feed the beneficial microbes, insects, and worms within the grass, which would usually be killed by fertilizer.
These microbes and insects help to improve the soil structure, increase photosynthesis, and provide resistance to extreme climates.
- By Amanda Castro
Save hundreds by using sugar in your gardens
Expert Jordan Page — the “Fun Cheap or Free Queen” — revealed how she uses sugar to keep her lawn greener than ever.
Rather than spend somewhere around $300-$500 on weeding and fertilizers, you can use white table sugar to solve many of your lawn’s problems.
Typically costing around $4, sugar is both super cheap and super easy to apply to your lawn.
Other than making your grass extra green, she said sugar is also beneficial for the environment.
- By Amanda Castro
Save hundreds by using sugar in your gardens
Expert Jordan Page — the “Fun Cheap or Free Queen” — revealed how she uses sugar to keep her lawn greener than ever.
Rather than spend somewhere around $300-$500 on weeding and fertilizers, you can use white table sugar to solve many of your lawn’s problems.
Typically costing around $4, sugar is both super cheap and super easy to apply to your lawn.
Other than making your grass extra green, she said sugar is also beneficial for the environment.
- By Amanda Castro
Best places in the US to garden year-round
States including California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and other southern areas are known to support year-round gardening.
This is because these climates do not experience cold winters.
Hunker described that in these areas, the first crop is usually planted in January, and the second in late August.
The outlet added that warm-season crops can be grown from April to early winter.
- By Amanda Castro
Best places in the US to grow tropical fruit
Fruits like mangoes and pineapples grow best in warm climates with considerable rainfall.
Hawaii and Florida are the best locations in the US for these fruits.
While some midwestern states are warm enough, they do not receive enough rain to grow tropical plants, according to Hunker.
- By Amanda Castro
Best places in the US to grow vegetables
The top five states for vegetable production are California, Idaho, Washington, Wisconsin, and Florida, Hunker also reported.
According to USDA Economic Research Service, California produces 60 percent of US fresh vegetables.
Idaho and Wisconsin produce the most potatoes, the outlet reported.
- By Amanda Castro
Best places in the US to grow fruits
If you are looking to grow fruits such as oranges, apples, lemons, avocados, peaches, and grapes, California is the best state to do so.
The state ranks highest in the production of many fruits, Hunker reported.
Florida is ranked second for orange production, and New York is second for apples and grapes.
- By Amanda Castro
Companion plants that help each other
The experts at Old World Garden Farms suggested growing basil next to tomatoes and pepper plants.
Since basil is a deterrent against tomato hornworms, aphids, and beetles, planting it next to other plants will help protect them too.
The green-thumbed pros suggest planting it “close proximity to tomato and pepper plants,” since it protects them naturally.
“In fact, as an added benefit, basil supposedly even improves the flavor of tomatoes when grown nearby.”
They also suggested growing onions and garlic near the cabbage.
“Both onions and garlic are known as an excellent repellent for cabbage moths, worms and loopers, and help keep cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower pest free.”
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GARDEN TIP I plant a common item in my vegetable patch to keep out bugs – it’s ‘super easy’
- By Amanda Castro
Plant companions to get rid of pests
Experts at Old World Garden Farms gave one handy tip to avoid using harsh chemicals to remove pests.
Companion planting could be the key to ridding nasty pests from your crops.
“Companion planting has been our number one, go-to method for stopping pests naturally in the garden for the last 5+ years. And has it ever worked wonders!” the experts said.
All you have to do is plant certain plants next to each other to reap the benefits.
“There are some wonderful beneficial relationships when certain plants grow near one another.
- By Amanda Castro
Rust disease turns grass orange
Orange is an alarming color for your grass and means that a fungus is loose in your lawn.
Expert Sean Lade explained: “Orange is not a natural color found in grass. This is a sign that your grass is suffering from rust disease.”
“The orange color comes from the fungi spores on the leaves. This comes about in wet and warm conditions and when the grass has not been cared for properly.”
“This can kill the leaves of your turf, but in general, will not kill the entire turf plant.”
“To control this, invest in some lawn fertilizer, mow your turf properly, maintain good drainage, and water your turf properly to the guidelines above.”
- By Amanda Castro
Blue grass means no recovery
Silver or blue-colored grass is the worst news for a gardener.
Sean said: “When turf turns a silvery blue, it is dead. At this stage, there is no recovery.”
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