Hot Weather Help for Plants

When the weather heats up, plants need extra help. My mantra? “Mulch like crazy.”

A few summers ago , in the heating plant of a Colorado July , I had to leave behind my garden for a stage business trip to the southwest part of the state . I fretted about how to keep my vegetable garden in good shape while I was out . I did n’t require to arrange for a garden sitter and there was n’t time to snitch up a new irrigation system .

or else , I decide to implement the inexpensive and easy programme possible : Imulchedlike crazy .

All those bags of juiceless ( untreated ) grass and fallen leave that I had run down from the front yard in give finally came in handy .

Before I left on my tripper , I profoundly water the tomato , pepper , and squash plants . Then I took the dry grass and leaves and heaved great gang onto the vegetable bed .

I smoothed the mulch to about 4 inches thick , but I was careful not to let the locoweed touch any plant stems .

Then I took one last look at the garden , just in case it would n’t await the same when I returned . The mulch was piled eminent and looked like a downlike comforter on top of the vegetable seam .

With some of the remaining mulch , I underwrite the crown of all the containers of plants in the patio garden .

The weather was exceedingly red-hot and dry the week I was aside and I imagined a vegetable garden fill with wilted plant .

As soon as I returned home , I ran to the garden . I could n’t believe what I escort .

Every works was dark-green , healthy , and still digest tall . The garden looked as nice as it did the day I left .

That ’s when I decide that “ mulch like screwball ” is the easy and inexpensive way to keep plants going in the heat of summertime . It ’s a ripe way to husband H2O , too .

If you settle to add a thick layer of mulch to your vegetable bed , be sure the grass has n’t been treated with any herbicides or pesticide . If you use fresh grass clippings , circularize the grass in thin layers so it can dry out thoroughly before adding more layers .

Then make a note to save all your grass clippings and autumn leave behind for next time of year .

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