The first day of summer is June 20th, but the heat is already here! Is your garden ready for the higher temperatures to come?
Here are 15 tips to keep in mind for a healthy summer garden:
- Make sure plants are adequately watered. You may need to water twice a day in extreme heat/heat wave conditions.
- Water your garden early in the morning or in the evening to avoid water evaporation and heat scalding.
- Mulch, mulch, mulch! Use 2-4” of lightly colored mulch to reflect the sun’s heat away from the soil to help trap in moisture and reduce evaporation.
- Ensure your soil has the proper amounts nutrients and organic matter for healthy plants that will be more capable of withstanding hot and dry conditions.
- Shade plants when possible using shade cloth or row covers.
- Don’t surround your garden bed with crushed stone or concrete paths as these trap in heat over night and can dry out your soil.
- Pick all fruit that has ripened. Ripe fruit uses a lot of water. Regularly picking ripened fruit will help maturing fruit get the water they need.
- Space your plants a little further apart than usual so that they are not competing for water during extreme heat conditions.
- Remove weeds from the garden. They are water thieves!
- Try to plant in ground and avoid raised beds. While raised beds may be convenient, they allow the soil to heat up more resulting in dryer soil and more watering. It’s better to improve the quality of your ground soil than to build a raised bed.
- If possible, do not grow large plants on trellises as they expose your plants to more wind and moisture loss. If necessary, make sure to keep the soil around the trellis well mulched.
- Start seeds indoor under lights since many seeds cannot survive in high heat conditions. Once transplanted, make sure they get enough water and shade as they condition themselves to the outdoors.
- Plant transplant among taller plants so that the natural shade will help the topsoil retain moisture. Transplants have shorter roots systems and are more susceptible as the topsoil dries out more quickly than deeper soil.
- Group low and high water plants together to simplify watering. Grouping high water plants with each other and low watering plants with other low watering plants helps to minimize your water usage and reduce the amount of time spent watering plants.
- Plant fruits and vegetables that like the heat!
As always your local Menlo Park Ace Hardware, Handy Handyman Ace Hardware and Burlingame Ace Hardware are here to help you with all your gardening questions and needs. Stop by any of our locations for expert help to make sure your garden grows this summer season!
Local Events
Stern Grove Festival
Sundays, June 19 – August 21
The Stern Grove Music Festival series is almost here! The annual, free concert series has brought thousands to San Francisco’s Stern Grove and the event grows bigger each year. See your favorite artists like Janelle Monáe, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic and Hieroglyphics are some of the big names headlining this year. Get more information about the festival and see the full lineup of artists at sterngrove.org.
Menlo Park Carnival
June 10 – 12
You don’t need to travel far to have fun. The Menlo Park Carnival starts June 10 and there is sure to be fun for the whole family! Rides, live music, and plenty of carnival games to bring out the inner child in everyone. There will even be a cash prize raffle, so make sure to get your tickets soon! For more information on the carnival, visit nativitycarnival.com.