We have had such a beautiful mild spring so far yet the summer heat has finally arrived. We all knew it would and I don’t know about you but I kept hoping it wouldn’t!
There are some things you can do now to help your yard endure the first heat wave.
1.Deep water your trees. Watch my quick video below!
2. Mulch!
Adding a layer of mulch to bare soil around trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals will reduce evaporation from soil and keep the soil cooler. Mulch is defined as anything thick enough and should be 3″ to 4″ deep. I recommend a natural material like bark or shredded cedar. Decorative rock is often used yet I do not recommend it. Hard materials like rock only absorb heat, intensify heat during the day then continue to radiate the absorbed heat at night. This can make areas seem hotter than they really are and can burn plants!
3. Increase your watering
Now watering is a very deep subject that I will continue to delve into and here I will summarize. When I speak about increasing, I am speaking of increasing the length of watering. Most irrigation systems are set to water for just minutes at a time. While larger sprinklers like lawn sprinklers are rated at gallons per minute because they put out a lot of water at once. Drip systems however are rated at gallons per HOUR. They can range from 1/4 of a gallon to 4 gallons per hour. This means if a drip line is running only 5 minutes and the emitters are 1gph (gallon per hour) then the drip system is only putting out a few ounces of water!
If you aren’t sure exactly what to do for your yard, I can help! Fill out the form below to request an appointment.