Is the heatwave over?

What a summer we have had so far!! After such a long winter and wondering if summer was ever going to arrive, it sure did, with a vengeance.

So, we are all probably looking around at what appears to be dead grass and lawns in our gardens. Fear not, for grass is actually quite clever. What actually happens is, all the energy is stored near the roots where it is much cooler and the grass shoots are left to fend for themselves, baking in the sun. Any treatments or feed your lawn may have had will have been eagerly awaiting the first signs of rain so that it can get to work and start regrowing the green shoots we all like to see.

For those of us who have now had some rain, your lawn may grow back looking a little patchy. The thicker weed grasses tend to grow first, but if you cut the lawn to about 1 inch it will encourage the finer grasses to grow too. Mowing the lawn also collects the dead grass blades to allow for new growth to come through.

The hot summer has meant we have had to keep an eye on our pots and new plants with more watering needed, try and use recycled water or stored rain water if possible. This is one job that we need to continue with until we start to see a bit more in the way of showers and rain.

With the lawns and plant pots on the way to recovery there is always plenty more to do. This months jobs include pruning wisteria, dead head flowering plants regularly and collect seeds from plants.

The full list is,again, featured on the RHS website for you to view along with lots of other advice and hints and tips for your gardens.Follow this link for all the up to date information.