Page 18 - summer book

T he Hea t Is On It’ s W ay
The Heat Is On It’s Way

Now that the beautiful Spring Desert floweres have gone, it time to prepare for The
Summer Heat. As a rule, native plants will tolerate San Felipe heat conditions the
best. If you plant non-natives, they should be drought-tolerant. If you’ve got non-na-
tives that aren’t drought-tolerant, you will likely need to water them at least once daily,
and provide 40-60% shade. Even with these precautions, some non-native plants will
not survive our summer because they are unable to photosynthesize in high tem-
peratures. Jessica from Paradise and Gardens has some suggestions to help your
garden survive the Heat.
Water in the morning, ideally before 10 a.m. If you water later, particularly in the
hottest part of the day (which is the mid-afternoon) a fair amount of the water will evap-
orate in our hot sun. Watering early also assures that plants will have a good amount of
water in the soil for a hot day ahead. Note, however, that if you see a plant in distress,
water it — don’t wait! Make sure you’re watering your plants all the way down to their
root zone. For trees, this means 3 feet down; shrubs require irrigation to 2 feet and
smaller plants and cacti require around 12 inches.
Use mulch, it keeps the soil cooler and helps keep moisture in. It also controls weeds
and reduces soil compaction. In our climate, you will need at least 2-4 inches of organ-
ic mulch such as bark, wood chips
Don’t prune during the summer months (except for safety reasons). Pruning signals
plants to start growing more foliage at a time when the roots are particularly stressed.
Avoid fertilizing. Packaged fertilizers and manures contain salts, which when added
to soil will decrease the ability of plant roots to take up water.
Use shade cloth and shade structures. Extra shade, particularly in the afternoon,
can be the difference between death and survival for borderline plants. When in doubt
or if you have questions make sure to visit the many “Viveros” in San Felipe, they will
definitly help you figure out what to plant and how to care for them.
But most important make sure you hyderate when out working in your garden!