Extreme heat is a problem that crops up most often in midsummer, and heat waves are becoming longer and more frequent due to climate change. Keeping your plants cool and comfortable when the mercury soars might seem difficult (especially if you’re not a fan of working in the heat), but there’s an easy solution to help both you and your plants survive unscathed: mulch.

Using Mulch To Protect Your Plants

Mulch is basically anything you put down over the soil to protect your plants and make gardening easier. Commercial farms often use big plastic sheets as “mulch” to suppress weeds, but most home gardeners go for something natural. This could be anything you have easy access to, from commercial bark mulch to grass clippings, wood shavings, shredded leaves, straw, sawdust, seaweed, or even well-aged compost or manure.

Covering the soil around your plants with a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch will protect them from the sun’s heat by shading and insulating the soil, keeping it cool. This also helps retain moisture, which is crucial during hot weather. You can double the impact of mulching by watering intelligently: either in the evening as temperatures begin to drop, or first thing in the morning. This ensures less water evaporates before reaching your plants’ roots. Providing shade can be extremely helpful; consider using a shade cloth or planting heat-sensitive plants where taller neighbors can shield them from the afternoon sun.

Mulch Is a Year-Round Friend in the Garden

Mulch benefits your garden year-round, not just during the summer heat. Once your plants are well established and growing freely, applying mulch after a good weeding will help suppress weeds and prevent them from growing back. If you use manure or compost as your mulch, you’re also nourishing your plants and building richer, healthier soil year after year.

Finally, that same thick layer of mulch can be used to protect your plants through the winter. It’s especially useful for perennials or biennials that are at the edge of their hardiness range in your USDA growing zone, or for cold-hardy plants such as kale and broccoli whose seasons can be extended well into fall with a little help.

While cut hydrangeas can last for a week or more with proper care, they sometimes start to wilt just a few hours after being placed in a vase. When trimmed, the woody stems ooze sap that can clog the plant’s water-absorbing vessels, causing the flower heads to droop. If this happens to you, don’t lose hope — a soak in hot water can bring your sad-looking hydrangeas back to life.  

The Hot Water Hydrangea Hack

Dunking wilted flowers in hot water might seem like a death sentence, but it’s a surprisingly effective trick for drooping hydrangeas. The hot water helps unclog the stems, allowing the flower heads and other parts of the plant to soak up some hydration.

To revive wilted hydrangeas, start by giving the stems a fresh cut. Then, pour hot tap water (between 100 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit) into a large bowl. If you have a lot of blooms, you can also plug your kitchen sink and fill it with hot water. Submerge the cut hydrangeas (flowers, leaves, stems, and all) in the hot water and let them soak for around 40 minutes. These incredible blooms can absorb water through their petals and leaves (not just their stems), so they’ll perk back up in no time, looking freshly cut and ready for more summer days.

Bonus Hack

If giving your hydrangeas a bath sounds like a lot of work, you can achieve similar results by boiling some water, pouring it into a heat-safe container, and letting the freshly cut stems soak for about two hours as the water cools. You may notice some discoloration on the stems afterward, but it won’t matter if you’re displaying them in a solid-color vase. Alternatively, you can use alum powder (found in the spice aisle of most grocery stores) to keep the blooms looking perky. Give the stems a quick trim, then dip the ends (up to 1 inch) into the white powder before returning them to a vase filled with fresh water.