How To Protect Your Garden Plants This Summer

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You’ll think that summer is the best season for your garden plants, having survived the long and freezing winter, and you won’t be wrong. But summer also comes with many hazards for plants. Studies, for example, show that summer can cause heat stress for plants while shortening their time for photosynthesis. Summer’s hot and dry conditions can also cause plants to wilt quickly. There’s also a problem of some active pests and rodents in summer capable of destroying your plants. If you want your garden plants to thrive through this summer, use the following tips to protect them.

• Provide some shade

Even though sunlight is great for plants, too much sun can scorch them up and prevent them from flowering. Your plants can quickly experience ‘heat stress’ when you leave them exposed to enormous amounts of sunlight and heat for too long. That can permanently alter their ability to grow or function normally. If summer temperatures rise above 32°C (around 89.6 F), you need to protect your plants from direct sunlight by creating a shade. Doing this will shelter them during the hottest part of the day. Mounting something as simple as a patio umbrella should be enough to do the trick. If you have potted plants, you can simply move them to an area of your garden with enough shade. You can also use shade cloths and raw covers to protect your plants. 

• Protect your plants from termite infestation

Termites are active all year round, but studies show they do the most damage in summer, as that is the time of the year when they’re most active. Termites feed on cellulose, which is found in found in woody plants like shrubs and trees. So, if you have woody plants in your garden, you can expect these little guys to eat and kill them. In cases where they don’t have access to woody surfaces, they can start eating the roots of green-stemmed plants, killing them from beneath. Even worse, termites will not only destroy your plants but can easily invade different parts of your home. As if that’s not bad enough, they’ll remain active throughout the year if you fail to control them. So, if you notice any signs of termite activity in your garden or home, get help immediately. You can work with expert control services like Terminix to eliminate termite infestation.  

• Water your plants in the  morning 

Watering your plants in the morning during the scorching hot summer months is better. You want to do this before the hot sun starts beating down on your garden soil. If you wait until early afternoon or midday, most of the water might not be able to travel down to the plants’ roots as they’ll likely evaporate. That means your plants will not only be exposed to the hot sun but will also not have enough water (and therefore nutrients). As a result, they’ll easily end up scorched or dry. If for some reason you cannot water your plants early in the morning, the next best thing is to do it early evening after the sun has set.