10 Ways to Prepare Your Hot-Climate Garden for Summer

Although spring is beautiful, the upcoming summer may make you worried if you live in a hot summer climate. Hot temperatures are coming, and preparing your garden for the hot summer ahead is essential. 

What you do before the heat will affect how your vegetables, herbs, and flowers withstand the heat of the upcoming summer. Here are 10 ways to prepare your hot-climate summer garden.

1. Eliminate small containers

During the cooler months of the year, containers of any size can be used to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers successfully. But when it gets hot, small containers heat up and dry out very quickly. In addition, their small size makes growing anything in them difficult. 

When temperatures climb, it is time to put the small containers away until things begin to cool down in the fall. Remove the soil from the containers and use it as mulch or add it to your compost. Use large containers that hold 10 gallons of soil or more if desired.

For more information about container gardening, read this blog post, “Container Gardening for Beginners: 10 Steps for Success“.

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2. Use ollas (oyas) in containers in your hot-climate summer garden

When using large or extra-large containers during the summer, (if possible) add ollas to the containers. Using ollas in containers keeps them from drying out as fast during the hot summer.  

Ollas are a form of plant irrigation that slowly provides water at the roots as the water seeps out of the underground terra cotta pot. You refill the olla as it empties. I use ollas from Growoya. Use code GROWING for a small discount.

For more information about adding ollas to your garden, read this blog post, “The Best Way to Water Outdoor Potted Plants“.

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3. Inspect the watering and irrigation system

During the cooler months, a broken emitter may not be a big deal, but during the summer, the intense heat of hot-summer climates means that a plant could die before you realize it needs water. So check all parts of your watering and irrigation system BEFORE it gets hot.

• Run the drip irrigation system and inspect the emitters on your landscape plants.
• Check the watering system in each bed to ensure adequate water pressure and coverage.
• Add additional emitters as needed.
• Inspect timers. 
• Check and replace batteries in timers.
• Inspect fittings on hoses and replace o-rings as needed to fix leaks. 

For more information about watering your garden, read this blog post, “The Best Way to Water Raised Beds“.

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4. Mulch, mulch, mulch!

Mulch is a hot summer gardener’s best friend. The sun in hot-summer climates is hard on plants and the soil. However, there are many advantages to adding mulch:

• Mulch shades the soil from the sun’s direct rays causing less temperature variation. 
• A thick layer of mulch means that less moisture is lost through evaporation. You can then water less frequently, saving water, money, and time!

For more information about using mulch, read this blog post, “Mulching Your Garden: What to Use and How to Use it”.

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5. Evaluate cool-season plants in your hot-climate summer garden

As summer approaches, cool-season crops won’t survive if you live in a hot-summer climate. So if a crop isn’t going to produce before it gets hot, I usually remove the plant so it doesn’t get stressed out and attract pests. 

However, it’s good to leave some cool-season herbs in place (cilantro, dill, parsely) to attract beneficial insects and pollinators.

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6. Plant and make plans for summer planting

Use the empty spots in your garden to plant warm-season crops. Then, when existing crops like potatoes, garlic, and onions are harvested, decide what to plant. Use the May, June, July, and August planting guides for ideas.

To order the “Perpetual Planting and Harvest Calendar for the Low Desert of Arizona“, click here.

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7. Add cover crops to empty beds

If garden beds are not going to be used for six weeks or more, adding a cover crop is a good idea. Cover crops are a type of living mulch that helps improve the soil. 

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8. Evaluate your yard for needed shade

Once you have your plan of what to plant in your garden, assess the shade needs of your garden. First, look at the areas that receive full sun. Do you need to add some shade? Some plants grow well in full sun, while others do not. Next, evaluate where it would be helpful to add shade in your hot-climate summer garden. 

For more information about shade, read this blog post, “How to Create Shade in the Garden”.

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9. Add shade as needed to your hot-climate summer garden

Shade keeps the direct sun off foliage; the shaded area can be about 10℉ cooler than areas without shade. In addition, providing shade for plants can lower the amount of moisture loss through transpiration (evaporation of water from plant leaves). There are several different ways to add shade to your garden.

Sunflowers are an excellent way to add natural shade where needed. 

• Grow sunflowers outside of your raised beds, so they do not compete with the crops in the beds.
• Plant sunflowers on the west side of the garden to help provide afternoon shade. 
• Plant branching varieties of sunflowers for the longest-lasting blooms and shade.

Add shade cloth where needed. Shade cloth comes in different coverages. In most instances, a percentage of 40-60% shade cloth is suitable for vegetables during the summer.

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10. Expect and learn from challenges in your hot-climate summer garden

Summer gardening in hot-summer climates isn’t easy. Each summer brings different challenges. 

• Will there be monsoon winds, moisture, and rain? 
• Will there be record-breaking hot temperatures again this year? 

Preparing for summer may mean expecting that some plants will not survive. However, learning from our mistakes and circumstances outside our control is essential.  

For more information on hot-climate summer gardening, read this “Summer Gardening in Arizona” post.

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For more information about gardening in hot-climate areas, read these blog posts:

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