Don’t wait until summer to start tending to your garden. Start early during spring if you want to make full use of the warmer season and enjoy a beautiful garden for longer.
By the time the weather starts to warm up and there is plenty of sunshine for plants, your garden should be ready to bloom.
How to prepare your garden for summer
Here are some tips on how to get your garden ready for summer.
1. Do some spring cleaning
Yes, even your garden requires some spring cleaning to remove weeds and dead flowers or vegetables.
If you are planning to plant your garden anew, clear out everything.
This is also the perfect time to check if there are any pests lurking in your garden. Watch out for diseased plants or insects.
Deal with pests in time before you plant anything else. This will give your garden the best chance to flourish in the summer.
2. Enrich the soil
Add some multi purpose compost to the garden and mix it thoroughly with the soil by digging it into your garden.
This enriches your soil and loosens it up, allowing better aeration and making it easier for roots to penetrate.
3. Select the right plants
Select the right plants for your location, weather and soil.
Summer tends to come with less rain (though some areas still receive a lot of rain) so be careful about the plants you choose especially if you live in a dry area.
Look for drought-resistant flowers or vegetables that don’t need a lot of watering.
But if your summers are hot and wet, you have a wider variety of crops to choose from.
You may also want to get your soil tested to find out which plants will thrive best in it. Certain flowers love acidic soils while others do better in slightly alkaline gardens.
But you can easily make your garden more acidic or alkaline to fit whichever plants you prefer.
Something else to consider is the location of your garden. Is it fully sunny, partially shaded or fully shaded.
Look for plants that do well for your specific garden.
4. Prepare mulching
To mitigate the drying effect of summer, mulch your garden. You can use wood chips, grass clippings, dry leaves or biodegradable mulch mats.
Mulching retains moisture in the soil. As a bonus, it also reduces the occurrence of weeds and adds nutrients to the soil as the organic matter decomposes.
5. Plant
Most flowers, shrubs and vegetables are good to plant in spring. So get started if you want to enjoy a fully developed garden in the summer.
To reduce gardening work, consider using a weed barrier or creating a raised bed.
If you go for a traditional garden, keep tending it to remove weeds and maintain soil aeration. Water the plants regularly and watch out for pets.
6. Prepare a garden seating area
Encourage your family to spend more time outdoors in the summer by creating a relaxing seating area next or within the garden.
This can be as easy as a simple bench or a few chairs. Or you can go bigger and set up outdoor sofas or an outdoor dining area.
For shade, a cantilever parasol is easy to setup.
Consider adding some garden lights to spruce up the garden area and make it stand out at night.
Still wondering how to prepare your garden for summer? I hope I’ve answered some of your questions, but if not, read this guide from The Pennsylvania State University or watch the following video.
