How to care for your plants in the heat

CINCINNATI - In this extreme heat, it doesn’t take a lot to wilt those flowers or patio container plants.  Even the grass starts to get brown spots and has kind of a “crunchy” quality to it.
 
Even worse… you might be planning a vacation, and won’t be able to attend to your garden or lawn. 
 
So what can you do to keep your grass and plants alive and flourishing?
 
We talked to Mike Brooks, one of the assistant gardeners at Fort Thomas Florist and Greenhouses, to get some tips on doing just that.
 
Brooks said, “When it’s this hot and dry a lot of people are worried about their grass, and about their grass browning and stuff like that, and some tips on kind of taking care of your grass would be to water early in the morning as opposed to late at night.”
 
He also said that in this extreme heat, not only should you water in the morning, but in the afternoon as well. 
 
Brooks cautions though, that if you water late at night, you could get fungus problems with your plants.
 
There are a lot of things that you can do that could actually hurt your plants, when you think you’re doing good.
 
“It’s definitely better to keep things under-watered, rather than overwatering.  You can kill things overwatering…most plants are pretty resilient and they’ll perk back up and they’ll pop back up," said Brooks.
 
The best way to keep from over-watering or under-watering is to simply check the soil. 
 
Brooks says to put your finger in it, to feel if it’s dry.  Also, if the soil is light-colored or powdery…it’s ready for a good drink of water. 
 
He had several other tips to keep that grass growing!  Get a timer, to ensure you water your lawn for the right amount of time… about 15-20 minutes.
 
If you’re going to be out of town, enlist a friend to take care of your lawn.
 
Be careful with annuals, like inpatients… they may look wilted, from the sun, but check that soil…if it’s moist, don’t water it… you could end up killing your beautiful flowers!

For more information visit http://www.fortthomasflorist.net/ .

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