Your plants need water to stay happy and healthy.
As hot weather returns next week, here are watering tips to help your landscape stay happy and healthy.
How to water
1. Water slowly and deeply
Water will soak deeply into the soil, encouraging deep roots. Your plants will be stronger and will tolerate hot, dry conditions better. A soil probe is a good investment to help you see how wet the soil is below the surface.
2. Water the entire root zone
Make sure you’re watering where the roots actually live: near the outer tips of the leaves or even beyond. This will encourage deep root growth.
3. Let the soil partly dry out before you water again
Plants need both air and water to thrive. If the soil stays soggy, roots can’t breathe well.
4. Water when it is cool
Watering during the heat of the day just wastes most of the water through evaporation. Morning is the best time. Early evening works too, but if you regularly water in the evening, it can promote some fungal diseases.
What to water
5. Most important: water anything that is newly planted
New trees, shrubs and perennials will need regular watering for the first two or three growing seasons to build strong roots. Check out our video about watering young trees.
6. Your lawn needs water during the entire growing season
Don’t let your lawn dry out and go dormant in the summer. It becomes weak and thin, making it easier for weeds, moss and insect pests to invade. Read more about lawn watering.
7. Even “drought-tolerant” shrubs and perennials need some water to stay healthy
Just because a plant is labeled drought-tolerant doesn’t mean it can go all summer without water. They need occasional water to survive and thrive.
8. Trees need water too
As our summers get hotter and drier, we are seeing drought stress in more of our clients’ trees. Over several years drought stress may kill the trees. Give your trees a deep watering every now and then to help them stay strong and better able to fight off pests. It may take a few hours for the water to soak in deeply, so be patient.
