We’ve all experienced it: blistering temperatures, above our typical summer averages, that have us flocking to the comfort of our homes. But what about the plants in our gardens? Unless they are in a pot and can be brought indoors, plants are stuck outside, bearing the brunt of the heat wave with no escape. Most summers have a period of abnormally high temperatures that can be highly stressful for plants — even native and drought-tolerant species — resulting in wilting, sunburn and even death.

Thankfully, there are methods we can use to moderate the damaging effects of a heat wave. We will go over five ways to help your plants survive the heat, and look at how to determine if you can revive a “fried” plant.

Heat waves don’t arrive without warning, and today’s weather technology gives us several days in which to prepare plants for an onslaught of intense heat.

Definitions of what constitutes a heat wave vary, with most stating that it’s a period of abnormally high temperatures for that particular region. Some specify that a heat wave lasts at least two days, while others begin at five days. One definition I found stated that a heat wave is when temperatures are 9 degrees Fahrenheit above the average high.

Plants in containers are most susceptible to extreme heat, as the air temperatures can “cook” the roots as well as the tops. Shallow-rooted plants such as annuals are particularly sensitive to the effects of a heat wave, while most succulents are fairly tolerant.

Let’s start with the most important tip of all.

1. Give Your Plants Extra Water

High temperatures increase the rate that water is lost to the atmosphere from a plant’s leaves, resulting in wilting and sunburn damage. You’ll need to increase the amount of supplemental irrigation that they receive. It’s best to do this the day before the heat wave arrives.

When you water your plants is also important. Irrigating them in the middle of a hot day isn’t effective, as your shrubs and perennials are devoting all their energy to dealing with surviving the heat, not to taking up water. The best time to water plants is early in the morning, when temperatures are lower, which will help carry them through the day.

Avoid overwatering, which is also harmful to plants. If the soil is soggy, skip the extra watering session, as it will do more harm than good.

2. Provide Temporary Shade

On a hot summer’s day, we all look for a shady spot where temperatures are a few degrees lower. Unfortunately, plants can’t move toward the shade, but we can bring it to them.

Nurseries and big-box stores carry landscape burlap and shade cloth, which can be placed on top of plants to screen them from the sun. Other temporary shade methods include using a portable shade canopy to shield an area of the garden from the sun. Even a single patio chair can protect a low-growing plant.

If you have container plants, place them on rollers so that you can move them as needed to a shady area.

3. Mulch, Mulch, Mulch

Hot temperatures don’t affect just the parts of the plant that are above the ground; they also impact the roots. Adding a layer of mulch around trees, shrubs and ground covers will help keep the soil several degrees cooler while preventing it from drying out.

Apply mulch about 3 inches thick around your plants, spreading it to the drip line (where the branches extend out to) and taking care to keep it 6 inches away from the trunks of trees.

4. Avoid Pruning

It’s tempting to prune away sunburned growth, as it isn’t attractive, but put away those pruners. Although the outer foliage may be damaged, it’s protecting the interior of the plant by providing shade. Wait to prune away sun-damaged growth until temperatures return to normal. For extra safety, wait until summer is almost over before pruning away in case of the arrival of another heat wave.

5. Skip Fertilizing

As we talked about earlier, plants devote all their resources to surviving a heat wave. Because of this, they can’t spare the energy to take up fertilizer, which remains in the soil and can “burn” the plant. After the scorching weather has abated, go ahead and resume your regular fertilizing schedule.

Is Your Plant Dead or Alive?

The damaging effects of a heat wave can leave you with a “fried” plant. So, how can you tell if it’s dead or can be revived?

Wilting: This signals that a plant is unable to take up water quickly enough to replace what’s lost through its leaves, which is a common occurrence in unusually hot weather.

Whether or not a plant can recover is determined by the “permanent wilting point” of that particular type of plant. If it has gone past that point, then no amount of water will bring it back. However, if the leaves begin to plump up after being watered deeply, then the plant should be fine.

Sunburned leaves: This is another sign of heat damage. When this happens, check to see if the stems are green or pliable; if so, the plant is still alive. Additionally, if there’s still some green present on the leaves, then the plant is salvageable.

Avoid removing the sunburned leaves until the heat wave is over, as they protect the healthy leaves. If the majority of the plant experienced sunburn, let any leaves with green areas remain, as that green part still functions to photosynthesize to help the plant grow new leaves.

Source: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-to-help-your-garden-survive-a-heat-wave-stsetivw-vs~90673598

Adding to or remodeling your house is one of the most exciting and creative processes you can go through. But with all that responsibility comes pressure to make informed decisions that will last. How can you make sure to get the right design for your lifestyle, stay within your budget and maximize the return on your investment? Start with a great design for every room in your house — including (or especially) the bathroom.

Bathrooms, whether big or small, should always be well thought out and carefully located, and should function with multiple users in mind. We’re long past the era where there was one bathroom for every three bedrooms in the house, and everyone had all the time needed to use it. Today’s bathrooms need to be beautiful, use space efficiently and serve the users functionally. Avoiding common design blunders, as these rooms nicely do, can help you be happier with your bathroom for the long haul.

1. No View Out
No one likes a dark, damp bathroom with bad circulation — it’s no fun spending time in a space like that. If you’re building or relocating a bathroom, try to site it on an outside wall with windows.

If windows are not an option, installing an operable skylight can allow for the fresh air and natural light needed to make the space feel comfortable.

2. Clear View in From Public Rooms
I once worked on a large remodel for which the existing design had a bathroom in the dining room — seems kind of like a conflict of interests, right? Whenever possible, avoid locating the bathroom directly off one of the home’s public rooms — like the kitchen, living room or dining room.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to put in a long hallway, but create some sort of formal separation to break up the line of sight. The last thing you want is to be sitting in the living room with a glass of wine and looking straight into the bathroom at the toilet.

3. Making It All About the Toilet
That leads me to my next blunder: Avoid making the toilet the first thing you see in the bathroom, and avoid any sightlines to it from adjacent rooms. I like to put the toilet and shower in their own room while keeping the sink separate. This allows someone to take a shower while someone else gets ready at the sink.

In the bathroom floor plan here, the wall between the two rooms adds only a couple of inches to the overall size of the bathroom but doubles the room’s functionality.

4. Not Considering a Curbless Shower
A curbless shower makes a bathroom feel bigger and look cleaner — plus, it’s practical for aging-in-place homeowners, since it adheres to universal design principles.

This design can be fairly easy to achieve in a new bathroom and often in a remodel as well. Just make sure you talk to your architect or contractor about it in the planning stages prior to construction.

5. Thinking Bigger Is Better
That’s right: Bigger isn’t better; better is better. Whether you’re designing a large master bathroom in your dream home or trying to figure out how to squeeze in an extra bathroom for your growing family, the most important aspect of your new bathroom is that it has a great design that functions efficiently for your specific lifestyle.

The truth is, great design is less about how a bathroom looks (although it’s always nice when it looks fantastic) and more about how it works. Great design translates to a house that functions better, costs less to build, is more efficient to maintain and gets you more for less.

Source: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/5-common-bathroom-design-mistakes-to-avoid-stsetivw-vs~19332903