I'm a gardening pro – this is exact amount of seconds to water plants for during a heatwave & the best time of day
It's been really hot this week and the plants are really feeling it.
High temperatures can cause wilting, leaf scorch, stunted growth and a reduced ability to photosynthesis.
2
2
There' s all sorts of way you can reduce the pressure on the plants to cope.
If you've got plants in pots - move them into the shade - and group them together - so they give each other protection.
Water early in the morning before it starts getting really hot - so it doesn't all evaporate - or if that's not an option - when the sun's gone down.
However morning is the best option - as slugs move around at night and love the damp soil.
It's best to give them a really good soaking once or twice a week rather than a light water daily.
And experts reckon you should count to between 20 and 25 seconds as you water each plant - to make sure the water soaks down through the soil to the roots.
It's not what we want - but there's no problem with letting your lawn go brown - if it's healthy it will cope - and the green will return when there's a bit of rain.
Raise your mower's cutting level and let the cuttings fall as mulch on the lawn - to keep in moisture.
Keep weeding - so they're not competing with the plants you want in your outside space.
Save and store any rainwater to reuse in your garden. If you don't have room for a water butt - just leave a few brightly coloured buckets around to catch any rain.
6 ways to get rid of slugs and snails
Or you could splash out on a dipping tank - which looks lovely and stories water.
You could also set up an irrigation system - although these are costly - but a leaky hose can work just as well.
Choose drought tolerant plants like Agapanthus, Lavender, Geums and hardy Geraniums.
Also in Veronica's Gardening Column this week...
The best new plants on the market - plus a competition to win a Lawncare flower bundle
A BRAND new cherry tree called Japanese Lantern has won the prestigious Horticultural Trade Association's 'Best In Show'.
From growers Frank P Matthews, based in Tenbury Wells, Worcs, the 'Prunus Samaura Fugenzo' was described as having 'densely double-frilled flowers with white, pink, and green petals that deepen in colour as they age'. Plus it thrives across all regions of the UK and in a variety of soil types, except those that are heavily waterlogged. All plants that entered had to be new to the UK and introduced to the market within the last year.
The winners were…
Annuals, Tender Perennials:
LaBella Dahlia Grande Chocolate Rose - from Beekenkamp Plants
Cacti & Succulents:
Cotyledon Green Footprint - from Javado UK
Flowering Houseplants:
Cyclamen persicum Super Serie Dragon Deep Blue - from Profitplant BV
Foliage Houseplants:
Calathea 'Velvet Glory' - from Javado UK
Herbaceous Perennials:
Hosta 'Silly String' - from Darby Nursery Stock Ltd & Fairweathers
Shrubs (including Conifers):
Hydrangea Zeta Noir - from Bransford Webbs Plant Company & Darby Nurseries
Trees
Prunus Sumaura Fugenzo Japanese Lantern - from Frank P Mathews Ltd (BEST IN SHOW)
WIN!
Our friends at Johnson's Seeds are offering TEN Sun Gardening readers a Wildflower lawncare bundle worth £25 each. The Lawn Seed combines slow growing grasses with UK native mowable flowers - a pollinators dream - plus there's a tin of Celebration Wildflower s. To win visit www.thesun.co.uk/WILDFLOWERLAWN or write to Sun Wildflower Lawn Competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm. July 5, 2025. T&Cs apply.
NEWS! Dragon's Den OG Theo Paphitus has launched a new online garden centre at www.gardencentre.co.uk. Garden enthusiasts and pet owners can browse thousands of lines - from live plants and outdoor furniture, to turf, trellis and fences – with free delivery nationwide.
JOB OF THE WEEK Pinch out the tips of fuchsia to encourage more flowers. Pick sweet peas to get more blooms. Stake tall perennials like Goura, deadhead spent geraniums,
For more tips and news, follow me @biros_and_bloom
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
19 minutes ago
- The Sun
Why you should be turning your fans around this weekend to survive the soaring temperatures – never point them at you
WITH temperatures soaring across the UK this weekend, many of us will be reaching for our fans for some relief from the hot weather. However, according to some experts many of us have been using our cooling devices all wrong causing them to become less efficient and cost us more. 1 Here, energy-efficiency experts Green Improve reveal a simple heatwave hack that will save people money this summer. Electric fans may make rooms feel warmer when used incorrectly. Rather than positioning them inwards where they circulate hot air within rooms, fans should be directed towards windows to blow hot air outside during a heatwave. Daniel McCowan, Director of Green Improve Ltd, also says that Brits should be 'strategic' when it comes to opening windows. 'UK homes are designed to retain heat,' says Daniel. 'By opening windows during a heatwave, people trap hot air inside the home and worsen the situation.' By strategically opening windows during cooler periods, Brits can avoid overheating and save money on their electricity bills this week. Daniel says windows and curtains should remain closed during the hottest hours, which are usually between 10 am and 4 pm. They can then be opened during cooler evening periods to allow heat to escape and fresh air to circulate. If someone opens their windows and allows excess heat into the home, they're more likely to rely on expensive electric fans to cool down. My dream pool was £40,000 so I DIYd my own 18ft version in February all for this summer heatwave - it's saved me £37,000 "Electric fans are an unnecessary expense during a heatwave,' McCowan adds. 'For example, running a 200W fan for 8 hours every night from May through August could add around £53.21 to electricity bills in the UK.' How to keep cool in hot weather Most of us welcome hot weather, but when it's too hot, there are health risks. Here are three ways to keep cool according to the NHS... Keep out of the heat if you can. If you have to go outside, stay in the shade especially between 11am and 3pm, wear sunscreen, a hat and light clothes, and avoid exercise or activity that makes you hotter. Cool yourself down. Have cold food and drinks, avoid alcohol, caffeine and hot drinks, and have a cool shower or put cool water on your skin or clothes. Keep your living space cool. Close windows during the day and open them at night when the temperature outside has gone down. Electric fans can help if the temperature is below 35 degrees. Check the temperature of rooms, especially where people at higher risk live and sleep.
Telegraph
35 minutes ago
- Telegraph
I don't need interfering traffic wardens telling me how to behave
We've been waiting for this moment for eight months. Until a few weeks back, in our patch just off Exmoor, it had been raining since around September 20. Raining, blowing, chilling our bones and sogging our fields. I don't need official statistics to tell me about precipitation levels. I run a supper club from my old cow shed and, during autumn and winter, a spring mysteriously appears. Water floods the floor and I duly pump it out. I stopped pumping a couple of months ago. And now, some warm weather would be nice so my guests can dine on the outer part of the barn, which, unusually, they couldn't last month as it was too cold. Now there is sun, lots of it, glorious lashings of the stuff, drying the ground, the fields and the footpaths. The wedding season is upon us, soon the thwack of tennis balls will echo around the All England Club at Wimbledon and at Ascot this week, temperatures reached 32C. And it's not over yet – the UK Health Security Agency has issued a four-day amber heat health alert which began on Thursday and will stretch to this Monday. But nanny is not amused, nanny is concerned, nanny is on the warpath. Not mine, but ours, the state nanny. Nanny state has dusted down her cloak of hysteria and is back storming the wards. Here comes the advice, sorry, the warnings. The NHS website declares 'when it's hot, there are health risks'. The same advice, presumably for when it's cold. Dare I ask if it offers advice for when the weather is sort of normal, there being health risks the moment you wake up in the morning, if indeed, you managed to make it through the night. 'The main risks posed by a heatwave are,' it continues, ' not drinking enough water ', which it explains is a thing called 'dehydration'. There's a link so you can feast yourself on more detail. And then the statements of the obvious rise to a glorious crescendo. There are tips: 'Keep out of the heat… wear a hat… avoid activity that makes you hotter… cool yourself down… have cold drinks.' There's also a helpful list of vulnerable people, which includes older people and people with serious illnesses. Who'd have thought such people might need extra care? Good job we have nanny to keep us on track. The mercury tips 30 degrees celsius and government agencies warn us to lie down, stay inside and douse ourselves with water. This, in spite of the fact that when this warm weather stops in a week or so and it starts raining again, we'll all be off to Greece and Spain and the south of France where the mercury will be nudging 40 degrees. And because the NHS won't be on hand, nanny state won't be parading the beaches and issuing dire warnings, we'll all get it horribly wrong. We'll go out in the sun and, as soon as the breakfast buffet has been cleared, drink as much alcohol as possible in an attempt to both enjoy ourselves and forget that we come from a country run by interfering traffic wardens.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Enjoying the sun across the North East and Cumbria
Temperatures are predicted to surpass 29C (84.2F) today in some areas of north-east England and by Sunday - although it will still be warm - there is the chance of a few thundery it's still glorious for sunseekers, here's a selection of the best pictures of people having fun in the sun and nature at its best. Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
