- [Woman 1] We're back, and this time we're going to get ready for summer.
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- [Woman 2] This garden has prospered since we were last here, thanks to the work we did back in spring.
But now it's time to cast our sites forward to summer.
- Good preparation is critical for your garden to survive the hot summer days and nights.
- We're going to show you how to help your garden prosper through summer and give you some ideas on how
to set up your outdoor living spaces to help you beat the heat, and entertain in comfort.
- As you can see, this garden has been working hard throughout spring.
The veggie garden produced a bumper crop.
These crops are healthy and ready to eat.
Vegetable gardens are fantastic, but they're not set and forget.
The plants that we saw through spring we're going to pull out and we're going to make a new selection that
will see us through to the end of summer.
Now I'm going to plant our new crop.
Here I have chillies, eggplant, capsicum, strawberries, and some more leafy greens, including spinach.
All of these tolerate the heat through summer.
We're going to lay some sugarcane mulch around the plants to protect them from the heat.
This provides nutrients and helps retain water.
I'm also going to add some seaweed solution to give it an extra boost.
- As for the rest of the garden, the first thing we want to do to get it ready
for summer is a cleanup.
Weeds, unfortunately, grow all year round, so we're going to spend a bit of time clearing out the
beds and removing any weeds from the brickwork, and we're also going to pull out a few weeds
from the lawn.
- Come summer, this lawn will receive a whole lot of foot traffic from outdoor cricket,
family entertainment, right through to playing fetch with the dog.
To help it survive and thrive, we're going to apply this lawn fertiliser in early
summer and water it in with seaweed solution.
This will strengthen the lawn's resilience.
- When it comes time to mowing your lawn throughout summer, it's a good idea to have it on a higher setting
than you would in other seasons.
The reasons why we do this is because it helps to reduce the harsh sunlight getting to the roots
of your grass, but it also helps with evaporation.
- Over here, I'm going to install a drip irrigation system with an automated tap timer.
First, we've attached the timer to the tab, and then we've linked our phone via the app.
From here, we've inserted a filter and connected it to our first piece of poly-tubing using a 90-degree elbow.
We'll then run this poly-tubing around our garden beds and we'll use these barbed tees
to help change direction.
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We're planting these lamiums along the bottom of these hedges for a pop of colour throughout summer.
They only grow 15 to 20 centimetres, which is perfect to hide the trunks
of these lilly-pillies.
They are shade tolerant, which is great for under-planting, and come in a variety
of colours, which will make your garden bed pop.
To help ensure the lamiums get enough water from our irrigation system, we are also going to run sprayers
off our drip system every 1.5 metres.
This will allow greater water coverage throughout the beds, and our tap timer will allow us to make sure each
plant is getting regular water throughout summer.
To finish off, we're going to spread the soil wetters around the garden beds to help retain water.
- We're now going to apply some more pine bath mulch to the garden beds.
This is going to help brighten the space and prevent more weeds coming through.
Summer heat might have you seeking out shade.
If you have a large tree like we do here, use that to your advantage and create a seating area.
I'm going to revive this wooden bench seat that has been affected by sun exposure.
To do this, we are going to give it a light sand before applying this oil over the top.
This will continue to protect the timber through summer and bring it back to life.
Once we've styled up this space, it'll be a gorgeous spot to sit and keep cool under the
natural shade of this tree.
If you don't have natural shade from a tree, consider using a large outdoor umbrella.
- I'm removing debris that has built up in the gutters over time.
This is important to do this at the start of each summer, particularly if you live in fire-prone areas.
I then used a pressure washer to clean up the brickwork and the pathways.
Pressure washes are a great way to remove debris that has built up, but also a great way to clean
up after tropical storms.
- Now it's time to turn our attention to summer entertainment.
Summer is a great time to do those jobs that we need good weather for like painting.
This deck has seen better days.
We need to give it a light sand and a liquor paint to bring it back to life.
The trick with painting in summer is to do it early in the morning or late in the day when the sun isn't
at its strongest as intense UV and heat can affect paint while it cures.
Given this is where our barbecue and outdoor seating are going to be going,
we're going to block out the view to our neighbours so we can entertain in private.
To do this, we're painting along the fence line in the same colour as our deck.
We'll then screen off the area using these beautiful white screens to add visual interest and help tie
in the white accents within the space.
Now that our paint is dry, we've installed some shade blinds.
These are a fantastic way to block the sun and capture a cool breeze.
Then they can be rolled up in the winter seasons.
- As we're all aware, you can never have enough storage,
especially for umbrellas, cushions, and outdoor items.
We've built this bench seat using axon cladding.
And by having a hinged lid, we're able to utilise the interior space for storage.
By painting it white.
It ties in with the windows and posts around our deck.
- All that's left to do is style up our entertainment area so friends and family can sit back and enjoy
looking out upon your garden.
Along with furniture, we've added in a barbecue because what summer backyard
doesn't have a barbecue?
And also a few key items to keep bugs and pests away, like the citronella candles and basil.
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- In as little as two seasons, we've seen this garden's incredible transformation.
We saw it go from an overgrown winter garden to a spring garden bursting with life,
and now it's the perfect summer garden ready for entertainment.
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I think we've done a pretty good job. What do you think?
- I can't wait to sit back and enjoy this all summer long.
- Oh, pity it's not your house. - I know.
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