How to help your garden recover from a heat wave
UK gardens took a battering this summer as a heat dome settled over western Europe, and much of the green and pleasant land turned a dusty beige.
The recent heat wave in the UK has severely impacted gardens, leaving many plants wilted and desiccated. However, nature's resilience can help gardens recover. Gardeners can check if woody plants are still alive by scraping off the epidermal cells; green phloem tissues indicate survival. Many plants may leaf out again in autumn or the following spring.
It is advisable to avoid fertilizing now, as rain will wash away the chemicals. Prune dead stems immediately, but hesitate to remove perennial plants entirely, as new shoots can regenerate. Brown lawns will regain their green color if bare patches are sown with grass seed in mid-to-late September. Different plants have evolved various strategies for survival based on their native climates.
Some plants, such as roses and salvia, performed well during the drought. Autumn bedding plants can provide late-season cheer. As climate change continues to affect the UK, gardeners may need to adopt more drought- and multi-stress-tolerant species in their gardens.
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