Plant watering tips
Watering plants is a task that may seem simple, but you may be surprised to find out that 80% of gardening problems are due to overwatering. Overwatering not only drowns and kills your plants, but it also wastes water, especially if what you are overwatering is on an automatic watering system. Sprinkler systems are not perfect. Automatic timers and sprinkler heads are difficult to maneuver in just the right way to ensure that every drop of water is being distributed to where it is needed most. However, there are automated systems that you can buy that consider the specific needs of your lawn, calculating slope, water absorption and systems that even include a wireless download of weather conditions to determine how much water is necessary for your lawn. All this information is then translates into directions given to your sprinkler system. By determining you specific watering needs and cutting back when watering isn't necessary, it is estimated that you can cut your water usage by as much as 30% and still maintain a beautiful and healthy lawn and garden area. If an entire automated watering system is beyond your reach, they now make standard sprinkler heads that you attach to your hose and that use a programmable disk to avoid watering driveway or deck. The sprinkler simply works off the pattern that you give it.
|
|
There are more products on the market than just high-tech sprinkler sensors that you can look into if you are interested in saving water without spending a fortune. Low-tech- rain barrels can be bought and purchased for rain and gutter run-of. All you do is set the barrel by the home where it can collect rainwater from the gutters. When you want to use the water that has been collected, simply attach a hose and start watering. Barrel rainwater is great for your yard, but not suitable for drinking.
The morning is the best time to water. This is because in the morning, less water is lost to evaporation and watering in the morning gives the yard an entire day to dry. When the lawn is allowed to dry, you can reduce mold and pest problems. When it comes to watering trees, generally the better the ground around the trunk is saturated, the better. You can actually buy what look like tubes of water that you wrap around the base of the tree to ensure that it is watered correctly. Small holes in the tube/bag release water continually, ensuring that the base of the tree remains saturated.
Potted plants require different care when it comes to determining how much water a plant will need. The decision varies greatly as to type of plant, whether it is established or newly planted, the weather conditions, the wind, the soil type, the soil drainage and more. For most potted plants, you will want to water well, even soaking the plant, and then allow the plant to dry out before watering again. Frequent light watering is not good for plants because it encourages shallow root growth. The same is true when it comes to watering your lawn. Shallow watering of a lawn can lead to bare sports in the lawn. You can tell that you are over or under watering your plants by how the leaves of the plant look. Wilting or yellow leaves are signs of too much water. Plants that are native to your area will require less water than plants that are indigenous to other areas of the country. Young, growing plants also need more water, especially during the first half of their respective growing season. Fruit trees and vegetable plants also typically need more water.
