Daily tips Plant of the day What's on

HomeDaily tipsThursday 27 August 2026

Daily gardening tip · Northern hemisphere · Thursday 27 August 2026 · late summer

Getting Water to the Roots

In the hot, late summer sun, watering at the wrong time can leave your plants thirsty even if you think you gave them a good soak.

Getting Water to the Roots
10 minuteseasywatering
  1. Poke your finger into the soil near your plants to check if the top two inches are dry.
  2. Wait to water your garden until the early morning or the cool of the evening.
  3. Pour water slowly and directly at the base of the plants rather than spraying from above.
  4. Check the soil again an hour after watering to ensure the moisture has penetrated deep down.
A garden in late summer

Why it works

Watering during the hottest part of the day causes the water to evaporate into the air before it can sink deep into the soil. Watering in the cooler hours ensures the moisture reaches the roots where the plant actually needs it.

Douglas's false willow

Plant of the day

Douglas's false willow

Baccharis glutinosa

A woody shrub native to the southwestern US and Mexico, often found in dry riverbeds. It has sticky (glutinous) foliage and small, fuzzy white to yellowish flower heads.

Read about it →

Gardening news

Gardening news

Horticultural skills and education under the spotlight at CIH summit

Gardening experts, teachers, and employers are meeting at Kew Gardens to discuss how to train and prepare future workers for the gardening industry.

The Dirt · 2026-08-27
New research

Leaving farmland alone allows thousands of wild orchids to grow naturally

Researchers at University College London studied an abandoned farm field over eleven years and watched it transform into a rich meadow. Plant diversity in survey plots doubled without artificial seeding or heavy management. Thousands of wild orchids and other native wildflowers established themselves naturally.

ScienceDaily · 2026-08-23
On this day

Botanical Society of America holds its first council meeting in 1895

The Botanical Society of America held its first council meeting on 27 August 1895 in Springfield, Massachusetts. The group formed as an offshoot of the Botanical Club of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Today it supports plant science research, education, and botanical discovery across more than 80 countries.

Botanical Society of America · 2026-08-24

Written for the northern hemisphere. Gardening south of the equator? See the southern edition

Your garden, remembered

Photograph anything growing and find out what it is, whether it's healthy, and what to do about it. Free to start. No card needed.

Open Bozlea