Easy and Inexpensive Ways to Keep Your Garden Cool During Those Wicked Summer Months

Posted by Cathy England
June 19th, 2009
Filed in Garden Maintenance
Tags: cooling garden, drip irrigation, drought, mulch, shade cloth

There are some plants classified as cool weather plants that cannot handle the scorching sun during the growing season’s hottest months. In this case, you must find ways to keep your garden cool. For those in the south, this may be needed more months out of the year. Northerners generally need only worry about July and August.

Some may wonder why plants should not get sun in the summer months. Most of the seed packets and planter inserts insist on 6 to 8 hours of sun per day. This is true for many plants, but all sun and no water can be a bad thing for plants being raised by the organic gardener.

In organic gardening, the goal is to preserve water as much as possible. During periods when there is a lack of rain or a particularly hot spell, other methods are necessary to help plants not to fry and die under the sun that they also need in order to grow.

Of course, there are many simple solutions to this matter, and many of them are dependent upon the way that your garden is laid out. However, if the tips in this article will not work for you, they may inspire you to solve the problem in your own unique garden space. And surely, should you think of more, you will share them here.

Simple Solutions to Protect Plants from the Sun

• Plan your garden before planting: There are many plants that should be planted earlier in the spring in order to avoid the hotter, drier months.  Some of these include broccoli, cauliflower, and peas.  This means that you may need to start seed indoors, or place plants in an area that will get some sun and some shade.
• Use organic mulch:Mulch is useful in the garden for many reasons.  It keeps weeds down, but even more valuable is the ability of mulch to keep moisture captured in an area where plants need it.
• Plan watering wisely: Water gardens only in the early morning or in the evening and only when plants really need it.  Try very hard to water at the roots through drip irrigation or soaker hoses.  Getting foliage wet can cause and spread disease.  Water plants deeply, so that the roots will grow down further, and be able to access water during dry periods.  Signs that plants are requiring a deep watering include yellowing of leaves and wilting or drooping of plants. 

• Plant heat vulnerable plants in containers: This makes it possible for you to move plants to shady areas if needed during very hot and dry spells.
• Use shade cloth: Shade cloth is widely available (see Yardiac) and easy to use.  If you do not want to pay commercial prices for shadecloth, use an old sheet, or some other thin fabric.  Shade cloth may need to be moved or taken up and down so that plants do get some of the sun that they need.
• Think about plant layout: Plant tall vegetables south of the plants that will require shade later in the season.  For example, plant lettuce in front of tomatoes, or vining green beans.

Protecting your garden from the hot sun is an easy endeavor if you are diligent about keeping an eye on your garden daily, and ensuring that none of your plants appear to be suffering.  If so, try one or more of the above ideas to ensure the continued health of your garden.