Year after year, the UK usually gets hit with a heatwave that can last anywhere between a day and a month. As much as some of us enjoy the heat and the constant sunshine, some worry that their garden will dry out or that certain garden features will be affected by the constant heat and lack of rain. Read our handy guide for the best tips on looking after your garden during a heatwave.
Best Water Conservation Tips
For the environmentally conscious, conserving water in an efficient way is very important, especially if there are talks of a drought or even a hosepipe ban.
The best way to collect water and recycle it back into your plants is to invest in a water butt. These are usually inexpensive and worth every penny. The best place to set one up is directly under your house gutters, so rainwater will always find its way into your water butt.
Not only does this save you money when it comes to watering your plants, but it can also help prevent floods in your area, as you are giving this rainwater a home until it is needed.
Handy Tip
If your gutters are under trees and leaves and twigs tend to fall in them, use a water butt treatment in the collected water, and try to clear your gutters twice a year to prevent a huge build-up.
Caring for Plants during a Heatwave
We all worry that our newly planted flowers, or maybe our re-flowering plants, will dry out and die in extreme heat.
To retain moisture and prevent the soil from becoming too hot, we recommend spreading a layer of woodland mulch on top of your topsoil. The best time of year to do this is late spring, but it can still be done during the summer with more months of heat expected.
Use the recycled water from your water butt, and try to water your plants early in the morning or late in the evening. Stick your finger into the soil to check it is moist enough. It is best to drench your plants every few days as opposed to lightly watering them daily.
When it comes to growing fruit and veg, try to harvest your produce sooner rather than later, as some plants may become heat-stressed and pass the point of no return. Depending on the vegetation, harvesting should encourage more to grow, by which point conditions might have cooled down.
Caring for Turf Grass during a Heatwave
We generally recommend laying turf grass during warm, rainy weather; March, April and May tend to be best, or the other side of the summer, such as September and October. However, whether you have just laid turf rolls or have a lawn that is years old, these tips should help you.
For newly laid turf, soaking it through within the first week is really important, especially during this weather. The ground should be prepped and watered before the turf rolls are laid. The grass should then be watered twice a day, early in the morning and late at night, to avoid the water scorching in midday heat.
For lawns that were laid long ago, there are lots of things you can do to try to keep your grass green in the heat. Firstly, try to water at least once per day, late in the evening, for the same reasons as above. Secondly, try to remove any weeds that will be taking nutrients away from your grass. Lastly, aerate your grass with a pitchfork by firmly digging 2 to 6 inches into the ground.
Caring for Artificial Grass during a Heatwave
Now we have discussed how to maintain traditional turf grass, we thought we would go into how to look after your artificial grass during a heatwave.
If you already have an artificial lawn laid, you will have noticed that the temperature can significantly increase after a few hours of sunshine.
To try to keep your artificial grass as cool as possible, we would recommend lightly watering the area to prevent the heat from penetrating the grass blades as much. If you do this in the morning, it can cool your fake grass for a few more hours.
What some of our customers also do is lay a heat reflective material across the grass; the same sort of thing you can use in your car. This is a very effective way of keeping the heat off the grass during the hottest parts of the day.
Lastly, and this is especially important if you have pets or children that use the artificial lawn, try to set up a parasol to cover the main parts of the grass. This is the best way of ensuring the grass does not heat up in the first place, and the shade will keep it cool enough for small paws or feet to walk across safely.
Caring for Wildlife during a Heatwave
Wildlife is a very important consideration during a heatwave, and something we can do a lot to help with during the heat!
Many of you might get birds visiting throughout the year, for which you put food out. This is even more important in this weather, as the lack of rainwater prevents worms from coming to the surface for birds to find. You could also keep a small patch of your garden thoroughly watered, digging up the soil each day for small birds to peck at.
Ensuring there is accessible water in your garden is really important for birds. You can easily do this with a bird bath; many garden centres sell freestanding or hanging ones. Not only will birds drink from this, but they will also bathe in it to cool themselves down. Ensure it is refilled every day with fresh, cool water.
For furry or spiky friends that might visit during the night looking for food and water, you can help by leaving out a dog bowl full of fresh, cool water.
For those of you who own ponds, keep an eye on water levels and oxygenation during hot spells; topping up with rainwater in the evening and providing shade over part of the pond will help protect your scaly friends.
Caring for Decking during a Heatwave
There are two types of decking on the market: traditional timber decking and composite decking. As suppliers of environmentally friendly composite decking, we will give you some tips below on how to keep it nice and cool during a heatwave.
Firstly, when considering where to install your decking, consider areas that are half in the sun and half in the shade. Many people like walking straight out onto their decking, which can mean it gets protected by the shade of their house, depending on the time of day. This can really help with keeping it cool.
Next, why not consider a modern and quirky garden rug for your decking? Many homeware shops and garden centres sell these in varying sizes and designs; it will make your decking look super trendy, as well as keeping it cool underfoot.
Finally, if neither of these options is applicable and you find your composite decking getting hot under bare feet, try following the same tip as for artificial grass and misting it with cool water in the morning, to prevent it absorbing so much midday heat.
Caring for Garden Paving during a Heatwave
Many of us have experienced hot garden paving, especially on holiday when we get out of the pool and run across the porcelain tiles to avoid our feet getting burnt! Fortunately, UK weather does not tend to get hot enough to heat our garden paving up as much, but paving slabs will still become very warm.
Using the tips mentioned above can be really helpful in protecting your paving slabs from the heat. We also recommend wearing shoes when walking across your garden patio for extra protection, especially for babies and children.
If you are considering buying paving slabs to lay in full sunshine, consider the colour choices; lighter colours will not get as hot as darker colours, such as dark grey or black paving slabs.
