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Some like it hot

By Sereba Agiobu-Kemmer
26 August 2017   |   2:04 am
Hot and dry climates can be a great challenge for the gardener, unless you want to grow a rock or cacti garden. If you have a landscape or areas of the garden where most flowers seem to fry, their brilliance fading and leaving lush healthy foliage looking dull and listless.

Hot and dry climates can be a great challenge for the gardener, unless you want to grow a rock or cacti garden. If you have a landscape or areas of the garden where most flowers seem to fry, their brilliance fading and leaving lush healthy foliage looking dull and listless. Despite the fact that gardening doesn’t come easy in hot, dry climate as it does in a nice mild climate with lots of rain, it is however, very possible to create a landscape to stand out beautifully during the hottest season of the year. One can also transform a rocky barren piece of land into a fertile lush tropical garden. There are also a huge variety of heat-tolerant trees, shrubs, annual, perennials and vines from which to choose, to fill every corner of your garden.

Tips For Gardening in Hot Dry Climate
Mulch
Mulch can transform a rocky, barren piece of land with dead soil into a fertile, even rich tropical garden. Mulch is going to make all the difference for your plants. Mulch enhances the soil structure and helps increase water permeability into the soil, transforming many gardens from rocky dead soil into beautiful garden soil.Apply a 2-3 inch layer of mulch to aid water retention and help keep the roots cool during hot weather.

Watering
Applying deep mulch will greatly reduce the amount of water you will need to give your plant, but you will still need to water most plants which can withstand long period of drought. They will look their best with regular watering.

Water with a drip system whenever possible-soak bed thoroughly to a depth of 10-12 inches. Watering deeply every 3-5 days is preferable to shallow daily watering. Water early in the morning, so foliage has time to dry before the hot sizzling period of the day when the heat of the sun can burn or scorch wet foliage and delicate blooms. If you can water regularly and mulch deeply, and select heat-tolerant plants that can withstand long period of droughts you will have a beautiful garden even in a desert landscape!

Seaweed
Apply seaweed solution religiously, every two weeks. Apply with a watering can, plastic bottle or bucket, anyway possible. Seaweed gives plants, especially tropical plants strength and keeps bugs at bay in a natural-eco-friendly way. Seaweed also helps plants fight excess perspiration, which makes them more droughts hardy.

Soil Preparation
Remember that proper soil preparation is key to healthy, vigorous plants. Use organic compost and deep layer of mulch.In next article we will look at some of the drought hardy plants in hot dry climates.

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