Sunday, January 17, 2010

It's stinkin' hot. It's Perth summer.

In these stupidly hot days of Perth summer, especially days over 35 C, it's really not a great idea to prune plants. If you promote new growth by pruning, the new growth may get burnt off by a hot day or even just singed by the strong hot easterlies we get.
If you have already had parts of plants burnt by the sun I believe its a bad idea to prune off the damaged parts. Leave them there to protect the other foliage below. I don't think its a great idea to fertilise in early summer for similar reasons, to prevent new soft growth that may not cope with the heat.
Some vege gardens can even benefit from having a sheet or piece of shade cloth thrown over it if it's gonna be really hot for a few days.

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