April Showers Bring May Flowers. Or Do They?

Given the weather we have been having lately, it would be hard to make this old saying believable! Will it rain again? Maybe. Hard to say.

Speaking of water, watering in the landscape has morphed many times over the years, but the plants still behave the same way. I’m sure you’ve heard the mantra of Top-dressing with bark or humus keeps the moisture in and the roots cool. or Deeper water less often makes for a more drought tolerant plant. This is true enough for a lot of plants, but there are more details to these “rules” than one simple sentence.

Trees and shrubs and some perennials will have roots that go deeper into the soil than bedding plants and lawn. Watering them with the color and lawn will encourage roots closer to the surface, which in turn is warmer and dries out faster, causing those larger plants to be less waterwise and more dependent on the water schedule that you have for them. Watering longer (or in several back to back increments) will give more water to soak in, helping out those shrubs and trees even with a lawn watering.

Watering in the morning allows the plants to take up what they need, as they will go through a small dormancy in the hottest part of the day. When it is really hot, plants will take a break from moving water and nutrients up and down, and when they are in that stage watering is not going to help in any way. Morning is the best time.

Remember that while drip irrigation seems to be an answer to watering issues, it has its own rules. Drip is designed to put a slow and controlled amount of water in a limited area. (This will help keep weeds down too) It is measured in gallons per HOUR where sprinklers are gallons per MINUTE. It is not effective if you only run it 10 minutes at a time.

Lawns can also be a challenge. Have ever noticed the green “rings” in a park or school lawn area? (play around with Google Earth, and you will see this phenomenon) What you are seeing is inadequate “head-to-head coverage”. The spray from one sprinkler should reach the base of the neighboring sprinkler. If it is short, you will have thin coverage which then produces the noticeable rings in the grass.

Let’s hope that this month gives us some showers so we can grow the beautiful flowers!