Ensuring your plants are getting enough moisture to their roots is the most important thing to do in your garden throughout the summer months.  If the soil in your garden is dry, try breaking it up with a garden fork to allow the water to absorb down into the soil. Adding compost to the soil is also a great way to soak up the moisture and hold it there. Water your plants first thing in the morning rather than at night to cut down on the chance of any fungus becoming a problem.  Mulch is one of the most important ingredients in your summer garden as it acts as a protective barrier preventing the soil from drying out. Mulch should be topped up every six months.

Lawn Care
At the moment most lawns are looking lush and green after all the winter rain. But how can you maintain this throughout the hot summer months? Simply leave it longer between mowing, letting the grass grow that extra inch. Longer grass will protect the grass roots from being burnt in the sun and will cut down on water evaporation from the soil. Lawn feed can also add extra moisture to the grass roots,  help make the lawn look greener and protect the lawn from diseases, patchiness, moss and weeds.

Useful tips

• When mowing in summer, leave the grass box off your mower so the grass clippings remain on the lawn acting as mulch
• Don’t plant any new plants in summer unless they are acclimatised to the weather
• When mulching your garden,  it should only be around 3.5cm thick
• Do not use a mulch that’s almost like sawdust – it’ll wick water out of the soil and have the opposite effect to what you were hoping for, go for coarser mulch to protect the garden over summer
• The secret to summer garden colour is to choose plants that love the heat