WATERING NEWLY PLANTED PLANTS 101The most common way to water is letting a garden hose trickle at the base of the plant, soaking the root ball. You also can use stationary sprinklers on low pressure and soaker hoses, if this is your preference check to make sure enough water is applied to soak the rootball and surrounding soil.
DAY 1 Once finished planting, water your plants thoroughly to ensure moisture in the immediate root ball and soil. Water thoroughly and deeply. Smaller plants may take 15-30 minutes and larger up 6o minutes. Soak it!
DAY 2 Come back and do it again the next day. Give your new plant plenty of water!
DAY 3 & BEYOND After the first 3 weeks of maintaining soil moisture, back off to watering deeply after allowing (several days) for the soils to dry a bit and then watering deeply again. Pay attention to how long it takes your soils to dry between watering. Follow-up watering will depend on the plant, size, season, soil type, and if it was container grown.
WATERING CONTAINER GROWN PLANTS
The growing medium in a container grown plants is different and dries out quicker.
First water thoroughly soak the root ball and then the surrounding soils
For the first 3 weeks, keep the rootball evenly moist which may require watering every 3-4 days.
After 3 weeks, make sure to allow time for it to dry out and breathe in between waterings.
Typically, this would require watering around every 7 days for the first full season for larger root balls and in slightly less time in between watering for smaller rootballs.
If the soil is not drying out and remains wet, back off the watering to allow more dry time.
IMPORTANT WATERING TIPS!
Always check each time before you water. If your leaves are wilting, your plant may be too wet or too dry.
Physically and visually check to make sure water is needed by pulling the mulch aside to look at the soil and feel to check the moisture levels of both the root ball and soil.
Smaller root balls and container grown plants require more frequent waterings.
Physically and visually check to make sure water is needed by pulling the mulch aside to look at the soil and feel to check the moisture levels of both the root ball and soil.
Do not overwater your plants. You will not over water with a one-time soaking. You overwater when you water too often, and the soils stay consistently wet causing the roots not to breathe and root-rot sets in.
WHY ARE YOUR PLANTS GETTING TOO DRY?
Don’t ever assume showers and thunderstorms have thoroughly watered your plants. It helps to use a rain gauge.
It takes several years for plants to become established. During droughts and dry spells, you will need additional waterings.
If your plant is growing next to or under a large tree, it will dry out quicker based on competition for soil moisture.
In the summer, annuals, hanging baskets, potted plants, and groundcover may require daily or every other day waterings.
A solution is use water grabbing polymers like Soil Moist, a product that is added to the soil to reduce watering needs.