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Beat the heat with these gardening tips

Be selective about what you water — you don't need to water things that are already established, such as most shrubs, hedges and lawns. Yes your lawn might look crispy and brown, but like your shrubs, it will recover as soon as it starts raining again. Soaking your lawn in a heatwave is just a waste of water. Focus mainly on watering anything that's newly established or is really suffering in this heat. Newly planted roses are particularly vulnerable. When it's consistently hot and dry, only water early in the morning, ideally between 5am and 9am or in the evening, after 6pm. If you water in the middle of the day, not only is it wasteful but it can also scorch plants and a lot of the water will just evaporate. Rather than plonking your sprinkler down in your garden and hoping for the best, do targeted watering with a hose or watering can. Make sure the water goes in at the roots. A light sprinkle will just water the top of the surface of the soil. Avoid watering the leaves, which can lead to scorching if the sun is on them. • Discover more gardening advice, features and interviews with experts Plants in pots, especially smaller ones, are more susceptible to dying off because pots won't retain so much water. Whack a saucer under pots or put them on a tray or a bucket filled with water to help the plant to soak up moisture. If you can move them, take your pots to a shadier part of the garden. If there are any plants that are particularly fragile — like roses or anemones — you could place a parasol over them to try and help them out. A layer of mulch will help to lock in moisture and give your plants extra help to survive by keeping the roots of plants cool. Give your plants a break: don't feed or fertilise for a few weeks to avoid adding extra stress to struggling plants. Heatwaves are getting more common. To prepare for next time, begin planting more drought tolerant and resilient plants. Salvia, Perovskia and lavender are great drought-tolerant plants. Get ready for hosepipe bans by installing a water butt now so you can start harvesting rainwater when it does rain. Then you use grey water from your down pipes to keep your plants hydrated instead. As told to Sidonie Wilson How to Design a Garden is out now