‘As much as I love gardening, when it comes time to take a break at home—like over Christmas—it’s tools down. Even gardening takes a backseat to family, friends, and of course—test cricket!’
Hands-off watering:
Water is the lifeblood of the garden, and irrigation through driplines and sprinklers can help keep it pumping particularly in Perth’s hot, dry, summer. To keep water up to all your plants without hand watering, it is crucial to ensure that your irrigation is working at all points in the garden. Josh is going to check the efficacy of his drip lines and give them a flush to remove any blockages that might be impacting it.
Apply an organic wetting agent to the soil to reduce the chance of moisture stress, allowing the water from the dripline to soak in where it is needed. A layer of mulch over the top keeps the root zone nice and moist.
Josh also has pot sprinklers in most of the containers and pots on his deck and around the garden, as they can be tedious to remember to hand water and are very reliant on watering as they cannot reach the water table and can dry out quickly. Other pots on the deck and throughout the garden that aren’t covered by drippers can be watered in well and placed in dishes of water to prevent drying out.
Feed & fill in holes in lawn:
Sprinklers are set up to water the lawn, which is prone to drying out in Perth’s hot summers. Josh hasn’t checked these in a while! Water is a precious resource, so it is important to ensure each drop is hitting the plants desired, and not the pavement.
Small holes and slumps in the lawn can be fixed at this time of year by topdressing with soil. Lawn grows super quick in summer so this will be covered up soon. Use an organic lawn fertiliser to feed your lawn as it grows quickly at this time of year, making sure to only use just enough to reduce nutrient run-off.
Help the house-sitter:
If you are going away for a bit and leaving your garden in the care of friends or neighbours, use a stake like a bamboo pole to label and identify plants that will need a bit of extra attention. Josh tags two native plants that he planted recently, which will need extra watering as they settle in.
‘Holidays are meant to be about relaxing, not worrying about your garden. So put in some extra work up front, and your future self will thank you for it. Now bring on the cricket!’
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