Don't wilt: how to keep your garden alive through the heatwave

People may love a heatwave but plants are often not so keen. If wilting plants are putting a dampener on your alfresco evening G’n’T, here are a few tips to keep your garden fresh in the heat.

IGNORE THE LAWN

Don’t waste water and time sprinkling the lawn. It may turn brown in the hot weather, but it will recover on its own. Learn to love the African savannah look — it won’t last forever.

TIME IT RIGHT

Water early before work, or after work, not in the heat of the day, to keep the soil moist for longer. It’s also better since water splashed on leaves can damage them in strong sunlight, the droplets acting like magnifying glasses to intensify the sun’s rays.

PRIORITISE YOUR POTS

Plants in pots dry out really fast in hot weather, often needing to be watered twice a day. Make things easier by putting trays or saucers under them so they have a reservoir to draw from. You could also temporarily move containers from hot spots to shade.

If you’re planting fresh, buy window boxes or pots with built-in reservoirs, often called “self-watering pots”. Check out Elho’s sleek Loft range. If you’re recycling old plastic containers for planting, make drainage holes in the sides a few centimetres up from the base so water can collect in the bottom.

NEW PLANTS NEED HELP

Even drought-tolerant plants like lavender and rosemary can suffer if they have been recently planted, since their roots haven’t yet grown out into the soil. Give any plants you’ve recently planted a good soak.

BOOST YOUR VEGETABLES

Give any vegetable plants plenty of water, too. If you’re growing tomatoes in growbags, you’ll find growbag watering pots are a real time-saver, delivering the water to the roots where it’s needed (Botanico Growbag Watering Pots, £4.99 for three at greenfingers.com).

A micro-irrigation system — basically a thin hose with spouts that you can direct to the base of plants — is great for pots and raised beds (Watering Irrigation Kit, £13.99). Add a timer and set it for 15 minutes twice a day, morning and evening.

PLANT SMART

If you’re planting up pots or hanging baskets, mix a spoonful of water-retaining crystals, such as Watergel Water Storing Crystals to the compost (£9.10). They swell up then release water back into the compost, keeping it damp for longer.

WATER WELL

Waving a hose about for a couple of minutes won’t do much good. Drench plants in the ground with half a watering can of water per plant or leave the hose on the ground under stressed plants for several minutes.

WATCH OUT FOR WILTING

It’s normal for plants to droop a bit in the heat of the day and perk up later when it cools down, but if they’re still wilting by evening, they need help. Even shrubs can suffer in extended dry spells so watch out for drooping leaves and drench the area around them, as big as the plant’s canopy, for a few minutes.

For really dry plants, add a few handfuls of garden compost around them straight after you’ve watered. It keeps the soil damp for longer and will feed it, too. If plants still look peaky, dilute a capful of liquid seaweed feed in a full watering can and water it over the leaves at a cool time of day to give it a foliar feed.

MULCH FOR AN EASY LIFE

As well as garden compost, anything that stops moisture evaporating from the soil in hot weather is worth doing. Use gravel, pea shingle, bark chips, layers of newspaper or cardboard, but water well before you put it on or you’ll seal in dry soil that will struggle to benefit when it finally does rain.