How to prepare your Sydney garden for summer

Every year we get the same call in January: 'the lawn's cooked, the beds are wilting, can you come out?'. By then it's a rescue. The work that keeps a garden alive through an Sydney summer happens in October.

1. Mulch. Top up composted pine bark to 75mm on ornamental beds. It cuts evaporation by more than half.

2. Deep-water once, then back off. Established shrubs want a long soak that pushes roots down, not daily sprinkles that keep them shallow.

3. Check your irrigation. Every zone. Every dripper. A blocked line in November costs a hedge by January.

4. Feed now, not in December. Slow-release balanced fertiliser through October gives everything a head start before the ground bakes.

5. Prune with restraint. A hard prune in late spring exposes fresh growth to the worst of the summer sun. Save the heavy shape-ups for autumn.

We run pre-summer resets across the North Shore and Northern Beaches every October and November — one visit that sets the garden up for the next four months.