Drought tips

Some ideas to help your garden cope with the lack of water.

- Use bark, mulch, stones or slate to stop the sun drawing water out of soil.

- Water in the evenings....let gravity take water down to roots before the sun gets going.

- Move pots in full sun into shade or put up a parasol or gazebo to protect them.

NB dark pots absorbs heat so they can stress plants even more so with heat stroke.

- Trees and shrubs should be deep watered once or twice a week....allowing some dryness for the roots to go deeper and search for water, shallow watering and the roots will come to the surface.

- Shallow rooted plants like some herbaceous, seasonal and vegetable plants, will need more regular watering.

- Wind dries plants out more than still days.

- Think about making sure your garden ground is covered and the sun can not bake the soil.

- use some small trees to give more shade and think about planting more in the middle of the garden to allow shade to move round and even shade the house.