We all worry about our plants when it is this hot. Here are some suggestions to help them and you deal with prolonged heat.
- Cut any pretty flowers now you may want to take inside.
- Deadhead other perennials if the bloom is gone.
- Try to have a layer of mulch or leaves, pine straw or grass on root system of smaller plants (you do not need new mulch).
- Water directly on root system with hand held hose. Sprinklers for a long time waste water and just do not do the job.
- If your foliage is perky in the morning but droopy at night, that is OK. You would droop too.
- Plants take in water through their leaves, so you can give them a shower of water in the a.m. or at night. Do not do this at midday or it could burn the leaves.
- Water pots every day.
- Do not fertilize right now. It pushes the plant to bloom when all it wants is to rest.
- Remember, wet warm conditions promote fungus so take it easy with night watering where water sits a long time.
Tags: 100 degree heat, Christie Barry, Christie's Fine Gardening, landscaping, plant care