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No plant survives without water. With the right tillage, the precious water remains in the soil - and your plants can survive a hot summer.
"Chopping once saves watering twice, " says an old gardener saying. There is a lot of truth to this: With a few simple steps, you can keep your garden soil moist - so that flowers and vegetables get through the dry summer months without damage.
Moisture rises and evaporates in capillary tubes. If you interrupt it on the surface by gently chopping the crumb, the moisture remains in the soil.
Loosen up
Chop the top layer of soil just two to three centimeters deep. This prevents moisture from evaporating from below in the vertical capillaries that form a dry floor. But be careful: do not chop the soil immediately after a downpour, but wait until it has dried again. This will prevent the floor from compacting when you step on it.
Work in bark humus or compost about 15 cm deep in sandy soils, then the subsoil stores more water and becomes more fertile.
Enrich
Humus-rich soil stores water best. Therefore, work generously with bark humus or compost in your beds. A layer of mulch between the plants keeps the soil open and protects it from crusting: weeds no longer grow and the plants obtain food from the rotted material.
Use rainwater for watering - this protects the environment. Collecting water also pays off for cost reasons.
Water
Did you know that not only little, but also wrong casting hurts? Basically, you should water your beds in the morning or evening - at noon a cold shower shocked the heated plants. Salad and leafy greens prefer a shower from above; Tomatoes and root vegetables want to be poured directly below. Ornamental plants such as roses also prefer this irrigation method.
The plants grow better in the slipstream behind hedges or buildings: there is a favorable microclimate.
Protect
If you plant hedges, you even have to water less: In the slipstream of a green wall, your plants benefit from a favorable climate - with a higher temperature and less evaporation. And hedges made from native shrubs have another advantage: They provide a habitat for a large number of beneficial organisms, which can help you, for example, in the fight against aphids.
