Farm Fact Friday: Beating Texas Heat

Happy Farm Fact Friday! As we all know, this summer will be H-O-T, and it’s difficult to keep your soil wet against the Texas summer sun and water restrictions. This week, we’re sharing some tips to help you beat the heat in your garden and outdoor plants.

  • – Your lawn: your lawn can go dormant in the summer, like it does in winter. Once a week watering will keep it going, and having grasses native to Texas ensures they’re more built for the area and summer. If you aren’t a fan of the mowing and upkeep grass requires, there’s also alternatives like clover lawns which are drought resistant and return nitrogen to the soil!
  • – Investing in mulch: this can protect your soil from the intense sun, as well as keep moisture in your soil for longer. It can reduce weeds, and improves soil quality. Even rocks can be used, depending on the type of rock and plant (this can often be seen with cacti).
  • – Shade: Heat and sun stress can really tax your plants. Planting or moving plants to shaded areas, or building shade structures to protect your plants during the day can help.
  • – Wilting/Lack of water: with water restrictions, the biggest struggle is your plant having the time to absorb the water. Watering late night or early morning can help a lot before the heat of the day. Additionally, how you water your plants matters. To help cover the amount of crops we water on the farm, for instance, we use drip irrigation (which waters in the spot of our crop) and micro sprinklers, which cover small areas with higher water efficiency, since they water closer to the ground. For individual plants, watering globes or DYI alternatives can be useful overnight, as well, to help the plant absorb water longer.

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