As the temperature heats up across the UK, an expert has recommended taking this one easy step to help protect your soil and garden plants from the sun’s relentless rays
As the weather heats up, your plants could use some extra looking after – luckily an expert has shared one easy tip for protecting your soil.
While many of us have been basking in the warm temperature, it may spell bad news for your plants. Heatwaves can be detrimental to plants in numerous ways – including wilting, leaf scorch and stunted growth. Heat stress can also impact plant reproduction, leading to issues like pollen defects, male sterility, and fruit and blossom drop.
Of course, one of the most obvious and important ways to help your plants survive the heat is to water them regularly. But, once you’ve done that, you need to lock the moisture in.
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According to TikTok gardener, Gardening With Ish: “Now that you’ve watered your plant, it’s all about retaining moisture in the soil. There’s a couple of ways you can do this.”
Firstly, he suggests placing a coating on top of your soil to keep moisture. He suggested: “I’ve used a light dusting of some white gravel.”
The colour of the gravel is important. He explained: “The light colour will reflect the sun’s rays and it won’t get too hot here. And it won’t evaporate the water.”
But if you don’t have any white gravel lying around, there are other viable options. Gardening With Ish suggested: “You can even retain moisture in your pots with some straw.”
Alternatively, you can also opt for “some good old-fashioned” bark chippings. This is because bark is excellent at absorbing moisture, making it great for keeping the soil beneath it moist.
There are other steps you can take to keep your garden heat friendly. Gardening With Ish warns that while you may be tempted to mow your lawn, during the hot weather it may be best to hold back.
“If you [mow] it when it’s too hot, you can stress it out,” he says. This is because the high temperatures cause grass to dry out faster, a problem which is only exacerbated when it’s cut short.
Instead you should leave it for a few days and keep it well-watered. Later on in the week, you should be able to mow it without causing damage.
It’s worth noting as well that the time of day you water your plants matters greatly during a heatwave. You should avoid watering your plants at midday, as the water will evaporate quickly and may not have time to seep into the soil.
Instead, water your plants in the morning or evening. This way the moisture will have time to sink into the soil before evaporating, keeping your plants hydrated.