Aside from the various foundational issues that can come with warmer climates, there are also huge problems that hot and dry environments cause for your home’s landscaping and aesthetic appeal. The intense heat can make most plants shrivel up very fast. And the lack of rain won’t be doing your garden any favors. Fortunately, you can do plenty of things to ensure your landscaping will stay beautiful even during the harshest summer moments.
Test and amend the soil
Amending the soil is one of the crucial parts of maintaining the health of your plans. If you have a garden as part of your landscaping, this is essential to preserving it in hot and dry environments. You can use a soil test kit to determine the number of nutrients the soil holds and its pH—that way, you can address any issues you notice. If your plants need your soil to be more acidic, you can use iron sulfate. Alternatively, limestone can help you make it more alkaline. And fertilizers can address any noticeable nutrient deficiencies.
Of course, it’s always a good idea to amend your soil with compost. You can buy bagged compost at stores like The Home Depot or make your own. Compost works with almost any type of soil and has multiple benefits:
Helps sandy soils retain more moisture,
Breaks up clay soils for drainage,
Adds nutrients to the soil,
Add beneficial microbes to the soil.
Mulch
Mulch can be a beneficial component of your landscaping. It brings many benefits, both aesthetically and culturally. It can conserve moisture, protect the soil from baking in the sun, and discourage weeds, making your landscaping look more cohesive and improving the overall aesthetic appeal of your outdoor features.
A critical aspect of this, however, is to choose the right mulch. Organic mulch, like wood chips and shredded leaves, is excellent for most garden plants. Additionally, organic mulch eventually breaks down and adds nutrients to the soil. However, if you have cacti or succulents in your outdoor areas, you’re better off using stone mulch.
Use turf where you can
Organic grass in your landscaping can sometimes look better than artificial turf. However, the risk of it drying out and becoming yellow in arid climates such as, for example, Las Vegas is far too great. Since it requires way less upkeep and can’t die from a lack of rain, it’s a much better choice for such an environment. One thing to note is that even though it’s artificial, it will still require at least a little upkeep. Of course, hiring turf cleaning experts can help, especially in places where not cleaning it can cause serious problems, such as North Las Vegas.
Use native plants
Choosing the right plants is an excellent practice for maintaining your landscaping in hot and dry environments. Instead of planting plants that require a lot of upkeep and pampering, you should go for native plants which naturally grow in your area and are adapted to fend for themselves. The local cooperative extension in your area will likely have an inventory of these plants and some tips on maintaining them.
Be smart about potted plants
Container gardens can look fantastic in any environment but are always at considerable risk when dry and hot. They likely completely dry out if you neglect them for a few days. Luckily, there are a few workarounds.
Firstly, you should consider using potted plants that can survive occasional periods of dryness. Succulents would be the perfect choice for this. Additionally, you should use a soil mix that has water-holding crystals. These crystals help retain moisture in the soil, even if you forget to water. Finally, if you are ready to invest a little bit more money, you can get a plant watering device that will automatically do your job. That, combined with adequate shade, can be helpful while you’re away.
Downsize the garden
Another thing you can do to protect your landscaping in hot and dry environments is to reduce the size of the gardening space. If you cover more ground with mulch or concrete pathways, you can focus more on the plants you have left. You’ll be looking for quality over quantity. Instead of using plants and hedges to ensure privacy in your yard, you can switch to a traditional fence or patio screens. Alternatively, as previously discussed, you can cover more ground with artificial turf and section off designated areas for planting organic plants.
Incorporate shade into your design
Adding features that shade your landscaping design is a great way to protect it when temperatures soar, and the sun’s rays become too harsh. Although it might sound contradictory, plants will hold up better without direct sunlight during these periods than if allowed to dry them out so easily. That is especially true for sunnier areas that become extremely hot during the day in certain seasons, for example, in the South.
You can consider adding a pergola over your most sensitive plants or incorporating a shade tree if it’s well-positioned. If you want to get full use of the strong sunlight, Peak Services Las Vegas experts recommend installing solar panels to create more self-sufficient landscaping. They could help power your automatic watering systems and charge any electric gardening tools you have.
Final thoughts
As you can see, it’s not impossible to have good landscaping in extremely hot and dry environments. You can do plenty of things to achieve a fantastic look for your garden spaces with different difficulty levels, from simple things such as improving soil quality and choosing the right plants to more intense approaches like downsizing gardening areas and renovating your landscaping to adding more shade. However, one important thing to remember is that it might be better to bite the bullet and hire the necessary professional services for some aspects of your landscaping renovation. Whatever you decide to do, whether choosing new plants or completely replacing grass with artificial turf, it must create an enjoyable outdoor space for you.
