Waterford gardeners battling scorching, rainless weeks were given a practical boost on WLR’s Saturday Café as John McGuire of Maguire’s Garden Centre, Woodstown, shared his top tips for coping with summer extremes.

John arrived in studio with two drought-tolerant stars: Geranium ‘Dreamland’, a long-flowering Cranesbill that blooms from May to September, and Rhodanthemum ‘Marrakesh’, the so‑called Moroccan daisy. Both are low-growing, silver-foliaged perennials ideal for sunny borders and containers, especially for gardeners ‘not good at the old watering’.

Listener questions ranged from parched lawns to pesky insects. On lawns turned ‘foxy brown’, John urged patience: let rain rehydrate the ground first, then apply feed so subsequent showers can wash nutrients down to the roots. New lawns that haven’t appeared are likely dormant seed waiting on decent rain, rather than a failed sowing.

For pests, he revisited the ‘waspinator’, a fake wasp nest that exploits wasps’ territorial instincts to keep them away without chemicals. Indoors, he recommended ‘Super Ninja’ fruit fly traps: small, sweet-scented bottles that lure and drown flies within a day in problem areas like kitchens.

John also outlined vegetables that can still be sown, including turnips, spinach, rocket, spring onions, radishes, lettuces, carrots, spring cabbage and many herbs, plus perennial choices such as agapanthus, alstroemeria and echinacea for large containers that return each year.

For pond-owners plagued by blanket weed, he advised physically removing as much algae as possible before treating with a specialist product like Blanket Answer, which clears the water without harming fish.