Water, water everywhere!
Posted on May 28th, 2009 – 6:29 PMBy Connie Nelson
So, I’m out watering the garden like a good little gardener, when my husband says, “Look at the grass.” I look up. The lawn is brown! How did that happen? I start watering the grass.
It seems a little early to have to make this plea, but we’ve had one heckuva dry May. So WATER!
Newly planted vegetables, annuals and perennials and young trees and shrubs need enough soil moisture to get established and stay healthy, so get out there and water!
It’s best to water early in the day. (If you water in the heat of the day, more of the water is lost to evaporation. If you water later in the evening, plants can stay wet all night, which encourages disease.)
Watering less frequently (once a week or so) and deeply is better than watering shallowly but often. Think of it this way: Water that goes deeper encourages roots to grow deeper.
Watering at the soil level (say, with a soaker hose) is more efficient than watering overhead. But if you don’t have soakers, go ahead and use a sprinkler. Leave it on for about a half hour or so.
Take special care with container plants. It hasn’t been hot enough to dry them out really quickly, but the windy weather we’ve been having can dry out plants almost as quickly as hot sun.
Those are the gardening rules of thumb, but I don’t know anyone who follows all of them. How you get your plants watered? Do you water from your rain barrel or have you set up a garden-wide watering system on a timer? Do you have any tricks for watering trees? For grass? How do you measure how much you water?
This might be a long, dry summer. We’re going to need all the help we can to water well.
29 Responses to "Water, water everywhere!"
I was just out mowing the lawn today and thought “this looks like late July grass.” How dry does it have to be before we start whispering the word ‘drought’?
[…] Greengirls – […]
we planted 8 foot tall spruce trees early May and are wtering them with a root watering wand. Push it into the ground and waters the roots not letting the water run all over. This will be a once a week project if not more.
The hubby and I have been religiously watering every day somewhere in our yard. I cover new plantings and the garden, he covers the lawn and newly planted grass. So far we’re keeping up, but I’d love to enjoy the yard rather than fighting to save it every year.
I am diligently dragging the hoses around our small Minneapolis lot. Eventhough it is small it sure takes a lot of work to water it. This is on top of watering our vegetable garden plot in our new community garden.
I sure hope this pattern changes soon.
DIY soaker hoses to supplement sprinkler system, which favors the lawn over the flowers. I see that weeds adore the soaker hoses, springing up all along the hose system. Have to keep up with those or they will take over. Hope the hose is sufficient to help the things I really want. The weather moisture even in winter has been veering to Iowa for a few years now. I suppose that will shift at some point.
I’m using soaker hoses for the first time this year. I’m familiar with the old “an inch of water per week” concept, but have no idea how long to leave on the soaker hoses to get to that one-inch mark. Any suggestions?
(Also: Hi, Greengirls! After blocking online access to your blog for the last year or so, my employer *just* un-blocked it. I’m really excited to be following your adventures again this year!)
Welcome back, Sparklegirl!
I use soaker hoses in a couple of my beds for years. The rate of drip differs by hose, I’ve discovered,so I usually leave a soaker on for at least 45 minutes,then test the soil.
My test is very scientific: I stick my finger in the dirt a few inches away from the hose and see how wet the soil is.
I like using a watering wand to water the soil around the plants that need water, but you have to hold it. Not that there’s anything wrong with standing in the garden, of course.
When I want to water while I weed, I use a homemade soaker that I can set between my plants.
sparkelgirl and Connie,
I am also using a soaker hose for the first time this year in a large bed of hostas. I’ve left it on for 90″ once per week, and that seems to get the soil moist deep enough. I’m slightly more scientific than Connie: I dug down with a trowel.
My gutter downspouts empties into a different bed of hostas, keeping them green all summer. Another downspout empties in the front of my house. I’m about to rip out shrubs and plant another shade garden, so the water from the spout will help. That is, if it rains again!
Here’s my tip: I set timers to remind me to turn off sprinklers. I’m too cheap to install actual timers on the sprinklers. Or more acurately, why spend plant money on that!
Okay, so I’m not imagining how dry it is at my house. I live in northern Washington county, which is experiencing severe drought conditions, according to: the U.S. Drought Monitor. Interesting that not that far to the north, or to the west, it’s a bit dry, or normal.
I use an overhead sprinkler on my butterfly garden, plus tomatoes. I put this on this morning for about 45 minutes, while I was getting ready for work. Along with watering my garden, the birds are so HAPPY! I get to see the cardinals, robins, sparrows, bluejays and even squirrels wet their thirst. The robins sit on the fence and take a shower, the cardinals sit in my Magnolia tree and take a shower. The critters are getting thirsty! I also have a bird bath, but the critters flock to the garden when I water!
i thought i was the only one noticing the dry conditions! i look at my suburban forecast and see 10 more days (at least) without rain predicted. i water my garden and transplants each evening (i know it breaks the rules) and i water my grass (large lot) with a lawn tractor for about 4 hours every few days. more and more i am pondering in-ground sprinklers as i drag around sprinklers, hoses, etc.
I have some rain barrels, but, the water that accidentaly froze in there last fall is almost gone! I purchased a Moisture Meter from the garden center. It really helps! I can check the soil down close to the roots and avoid over watering which encourages shallow root growth and super tall tomato plants!
It had been very dry here in Rochester as well, until this week. We’ve had between 1.5-1.8 inches of rain spread over several days, so I’m crossing my fingers that I can hang up the hose for a while now.
While it was dry, I just spent ~45 minutes outside with the hose every other morning between 6:20-7:15 a.m., before getting ready for work. I watered the plants in the flower beds, as well as shrubs/trees and my veggie garden, but left the lawn as-is.
To water trees, this is my secret. I use a five-gallon bucket (like those orange ones from Home Depot), drill the smallest hole I can in the bottom of it, fill it up with water and set it next to the tree. No need to set a timer or wrestle the hose around the yard. I can set it up before I leave for work and not think twice about it. And it’s cheap!
I’ve been using a combination of the soaker hoses (established gardens) and the watering wand (for the new stuff). I turn on the soaker hoses and take the dog for a walk. Turn off the hoses when I get back, typically 30 to 45 minutes.
I’m up in Moorhead and everything is still pretty lush and green up here. We have had a downpour and some sprinkles this week, so we’ve been lucky. I just bought a soaker hose this year, but have yet to unwind it and actually use it. I buy plants that are native to the area and require little watering, and I almost never water my grass unless I am reseeding. I have a rainbarrel, but it won’t be til later this summer that we have gutters so it will actually get filled up!
Fixit (Karen Youso) recommended in an article once to put an empty tuna can under the sprinkler. However long it takes to fill up that can is how long it takes to provide an inch of water. I thought it was a clever and simple idea!
Great tips, Connie and Judybusy — thank you! 
Robyn — FYI
On Tuesday, May 26th, NOAA (the national weather folks), released an updated map that shows the twin cities and surrounding metro areas in a “moderate to severe drought”. It’s too early in the season to have it this nasty!
Great tips, everyone. I especially liked Peter Hoh’s homemade soaker hose and Kathleen’s idea of buying a Moisture Meter. (I’ve tried the Fixit’s tuna can method, but I somehow always end up tipping them over.)
I’ll bet we’ll all be doing some watering this weekend . . .
Wendy, I love your idea for tree watering. I’m off to find a clean bucket!
“Wendy, I love your idea for tree watering. I’m off to find a clean bucket!”
Elegantly simple.
Put a lid on that bucket. Five gallon buckets are considered a significant drowning hazard for toddlers.
With all this talk about watering, how about the mulching factor? I’m steering away from cypress mulch this season and need some new ideas. I’ve been reading a lot about pine straw mulch. Is it available anywhere in the Twin Cities?
We are not watering our lawn because we do not want a $300 water bill. We are going to let it go dormant and hope it survives.
“I’ve been reading a lot about pine straw mulch. Is it available anywhere in the Twin Cities?”
I saw an ad on craigslist for about $12 per bag. Seems spendy to me. Maybe there are better sources. My neighbor has a white pine that keeps her well-stocked & me jealous.
I saw baled pine needles for sale at Gertens in Inver Grove Heights.
A week ago, I saw someone unloading a pick up truck load of pine needles at the county composting site. I tried to explain to them that they could post an ad on Craigslist and someone would pay to haul them away, but they didn’t seem to believe me.
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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