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It's finally summer, which means longer days and warmer nights. This month is the perfect time to take advantage of all your garden has to offer and help it survive the heat.
What to Plant
Now is the best time to plant basil, brunfelsia, jacaranda, lilly pilly and sandpaper vine. Marigolds, cosmos, sunflowers and ageratum make great companion plants too. Not only do they attract beneficial insects and repel the nasty ones, they’re easy to grow and add lovely colour to your garden.
In tropical regions, you can get into the veggie patch and plant sweet potato, beetroot, eggplant, artichoke, radish, cowpeas and watermelon. It’s too hot for most herbs, but you can still go for chili, chives and lemongrass.
If you live in a sub-tropical area, pop some beetroot, capsicum, cucumber, squash, sunflower, chili, chives and ginger into your patch.
Temperate climates are ideal for asparagus, along with beetroot, parsley, pumpkin, radish and sunflower.
For the colder regions, it’s a good time of year in the veggie patch. Add some favourites like asparagus, beetroot, broccoli, capsicum, pumpkin, potato, rhubarb and tomato along with a range of herbs such as chives, dill, coriander, rosemary, oregano and parsley.
What to Pick
If you’ve been waiting to enjoy some refreshing watermelon, they should be ready to pick. Your tomatoes and zucchini are also ready to be picked and added to summer salads.
In temperate areas, capsicum, celery and eggplant are ripe for the picking while cooler states can enjoy their homegrown celery, along with basil, broccoli, cabbage and rockmelon.
It’s a good idea to pick and freeze some of your fruit so you can continue to enjoy it long after summer has gone. It’s a great way to avoid wastage too.
What to Do
Our Aussie summers can be pretty harsh so it’s important to take a bit of extra time caring for your garden so it survives and thrives during the hotter months.
Make sure you use mulch – it’ll keep the soil moist, give protection from the sun and it’ll also help to keep weeds at bay. Lightly mulch your potted plants and keep them out of the harsh sun as much as possible.
Water your garden deeply but less frequently to encourage strong and healthy roots. It’s also a good idea to do your watering in the morning before it gets too hot; your garden will stay hydrated for longer and it also helps to reduce the risk of fungal disease.
It’s important to aerate your lawn with a fork to get more oxygen into the soil and allow water to penetrate the roots. Don’t forget to raise your mower blade too – longer grass means longer roots and cooler soil.
Avoid chemical fertilisers as they could dry and destroy your plants. Environmental impact liquid fertiliser is great for seedlings when they crave water.
Shade cloth is a great way to protect your seedlings and plants during summer – especially if you’re going away. If you are planning a trip, consider installing a drip irrigation system so your plants still get the water they need.
As a finishing touch, add some colourful flowers to your garden to create the perfect setting for entertaining.
Garden guides for your location
Check out Garden Corner on the Bunnings website for planting advice tailored to your area and climate.
Feel free to let us know what you're up to in the garden at the moment by replying below or hitting the Start a discussion button.
Welcome to summer everyone!
Let us know how your garden is looking and whether we can do anything to help ensure it thrives over the summer months ahead.
Jason
Well, my garden has gone gangbusters in the past few months.
I keep it well fed through the season with Seasol, and my wormfarm production.
That wormfarm is going through veggie scraps, especially cucumber peelings very fast indeed. Important to keep the worm farm in the shade.
This has kept the lettuce, tomatoes and capsicum producing really well.
So far, I have a boysenberry spread that is astonishing. I swear it grows visibly. Boysenberry is full of spikes, so keeping the weeds out is a daily job in summer, along with picking the berries as they ripen. Gloves and long sleeves and clothes is essential.
Strawberry Guava is doing well, but it takes longer for it to ripen than other fruits, at least IMHO.
For the first time EVER, my Vanilla Icecream tree is bearing fruit.
Preparation for summer, I'm doing a variety of beans, cucumbers, capsicum and beetroot.
Today's crop looks like a mini Royal Easter Show display.
Corn, Pumpkin, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Striped Capscicum, Boysenberries.
I haven't included the Lettuce and Beans, and there is a ton of more coming along. It's just that all of these were ready NOW
Welcome to summer everyone!
For those up north, I hope you are not being inundated with too much rain at the moment.
If you need a hand with your garden, please let us know.
Jason
Summer is officially here!
How are everyone's gardens looking at the moment? Feel free to post photos and let us know if you need a hand with keeping them healthy in the months ahead.
I can't wait to check out this fresh crop of peas at my brother's place.
Akanksha
Howdy All
My tomatoes are going nuts! And Magpies are having a feed on my figs! One day they looked green, that afternoon they were half gone! 
This was the 21-11-2023
A week later
I think the Gabion wall really helps the tomatoes out. The gaps are for seedlings that didnt make it so I have replaced them with roma tomatoes.
Will have to stake them, the bushes are all cherry tomatoes
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