Watering

God's Warrior · Watering

Watering

Container-grown plants may need watering as often as one to three times a day in the heat of summer.

Drought-tolerant plants like ornamental grasses require very little watering.

Many gardeners waste much of the water they use. A large number of people water their lawns and gardens incorrectly and those poor watering practices contribute to a large number of gardening problems, including poor plant growth, insect invasion and fungal diseases. It's easy to prevent problems simply by changing your watering habits--from how you water, to when you water, to what you water when! Here are a couple of common mistakes we all make along with solutions for avoiding them:

Whether buried in mulch or left laying on the soil surface, soaker hoses deliver water right where it's needed and can cut water usage by as much as 70 percent.

Surface sprinkling is a big mistake. Watering every other day for 15 minutes at a time may be convenient for you, but it can be disastrous for your plants. Frequent shallow watering causes a plant's roots to grow near the soil surface, where they quickly dry out. When you water, give your grass and plants a deep soaking, to a depth of 12 inches. This will encourage roots to penetrate into the subsoil, where the moisture level naturally remains more constant.

To prevent wilting, either from too much or too little watering, stick to a routine. Flower and vegetable gardens should be watered once a week, an hour at a time.

For a simple solution to establishing a watering schedule, install an automatic system. Set the system to run every 5 to 7 days for an hour or two.

Many people water at the wrong time. The time of day you water is important. Watering in the evening isn't good because leaf surfaces usually remain wet overnight--an open invitation for fungal diseases. Midday watering is better for plants, but bad for your water bill because much of the water is lost through evaporation. Try to water between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., when the sun is low, winds are calm and temperatures are cool. Under these conditions, less water is wasted through evaporation and leaf surfaces have a chance to dry out during the day, reducing the chance of fungal diseases.

Water pressure from municipal water treatment facilities is typically higher in the morning, so it takes less time to deliver the same amount of water in the morning as it does during the day or night.

Watering Trees and Shrubs

Young trees with a trunk diameter of two inches or less need at least 10 gallons of slow-trickled water each week. As trees grow in size, they get thirstier and thirstier. Young trees with a trunk diameter of two inches or less need at least 10 gallons of slow-trickled water each week, whereas trees with diameters up to six inches require twice that amount. Mature trees tolerate drought conditions better than young trees because of their extensive, fully-developed root systems, and the method for watering them is easy: just water your lawn regularly. Landscape shrubs should be watered every seven to 10 days (maybe five to seven days in summer), and be sure to deep-soak them, although it's okay for them to dry out a little between waterings. Moisture-loving rhododendrons and azaleas, however, need a constant supply of moisture and should not be allowed to dry out completely. Reduce the risk of fungal diseases by watering the base of plants rather than the tops.

To help conserve water, use two to four inches of mulch around plants in your vegetable and flower beds. A great way to conserve water is to mulch your flower and vegetable beds. Mulch has multiple benefits besides water conservation: it suppresses weeds, stabilizes soil temperatures, adds organic matter and improves the look of your landscape. Cover the base of everything--trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables--with a two- to four-inch layer of mulch.
Some of the best organic mulches are pine needles, straw; wood chips made from pine, redwood, cypress or cedar; cocoa hulls; cottonseed hulls; and crushed pecan shells. Experiment a little till you find a favorite!

shazbot3

Good advice, Elena. I'm a real stickler about wasting water, as well. I always try to save any basically clean leftover water I've cooked with for the flower beds. If I've heated water in the kettle and don't use it all, it goes to the plants also after it's cool. And think about this: When home canning, we use massive amounts of water! Water to keep the jars hot, water to add to the jars after filling with product, water boiled and poured over lids to sterilize them. I save as much of all this water as I can. Once it's cool, into the beds it goes. Even my leftover coffee goes into the compost bucket to be either poured with the coffee ground & tea bags directly into the flower beds, or into the composter. I even let the water from melted ice in the coolers warm up a bit, and in that goes, too.

Elena

Water plants that are in the shade: Just because it's not as hot in the shade as it is out in the sunny areas of your landscape, don't forget that your shade plants still need to be watered properly. A soil with good water-retention will minimize the amount of time you'll spend watering -- but you still have to water shade plants! Sandy soils need to be amended with organic matter; the latter will slow down the movement of water through the soil, so that your plants have a chance to take a drink.

Finally, resist the temptation to go to the opposite extreme, thinking that there's no such thing as too much water. Most plants need good drainage, because roots sitting in water will rot. Soils with heavy clay have this problem. Again, the answer is to amend the soil, although the problem here is the opposite. In the case of heavy clay soils, amendments will loosen up the soil, allowing water to percolate through at a reasonable rate. After all, your plants' roots want to drink, not drown!