1. Maybe in this challenging weather the best thing you can do is mulch the soil (after watering, so that the soil is moist and the mulch will retain that moisture). If you pull out weeds leave them on the surface to keep roots cool, use grass clippings if you have them but making sure to keep away from stems of plants.
2. To save water just water around the roots of plants by removing roses on watering cans and spray attachments on hoses.
3. Propagate from your drought tolerant plants which can include lavenders, Salvia, rosemary, Achillea, sedums, Echinacea and Nepeta. Rosie Hardy of Hardys Cottage Plants also suggests Libertia, Cynoglossum, Veronica ‘Shirley Blue’, Cerinthe (which will self seed year after year), Salvia argentea and good old-fashioned Aubrieta which is lovely in spring clambering on banks but rarely seen these days.
4. Now is the time to start saving seeds to save you money next year as seeds are forming quickly in the heat. Collect in paper bags and leave to dry out for a while before labelling in envelopes. We are always grateful for seeds on the Plant Sale table.
5. Plant some Scabious which are a lovely group of plants in all shades of blues, pinks, maroons and the perennial varieties last for years and loved by insects. Annual varieties come in a lovely range of colours and you can save the seeds from year to year. They are fairly drought tolerant too once established.
S. atropurpurea ‘Oxford Blue’ and S. ‘Kudo Pink’
6. If you have a large corner you want to fill, plant a cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) for a striking effect… huge erect stems which generally don’t need staking and lovely purple flowers beloved by bees. They do need lots of space but make a lovely drought-tolerant statement.
7. Trim back lavender as the flowers go over (or if you wish to harvest it for drying) and you may get a flush of second flowers.
8. Once climbing beans reach the top of their supports pinch out the growing stem to allow the beans to develop and stop the plants getting top-heavy and falling over. I sowed direct this year and the stems appear much tougher and more resistant to slug damage.
9. Cucumbers need really strong supports while they climb, and make sure to harvest regularly before the fruits get too big and heavy.
10. Please provide fresh water daily for birds and insects, remembering to clean out containers regularly. I have lots of small containers which are empty every morning in this weather.
Happy gardening all!
Pat K
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