For Lush, Green Lawns Water Often, Correctly

For gardeners, the difficult weeks lie just ahead.

Summer has arrived, bearing a long stretch of hot, usually dry weather.

So shake the dust off those watering cans, drag out the sprinkler and hose, and lay down that drip-irrigation system.

Your flowers and vegetables, new lush lawn, young trees and shrubs are depending on you.

If you haven’t mulched your flower beds and vegetable gardens, do it this minute.

This is important because mulch keeps the soil evenly moist and reduces the rate of evaporation. It also cuts down on weeds and looks nice. About 3 inches of grass clippings, shredded bark, straw or decomposing leaves should do the trick.

Still, watering is essential. But you will have choices to make about what to water, how and when.

“When” is easy. Water in the morning, when the air is cooler and evaporation lower. This will also give the leaves time to dry off before nightfall, reducing the risk of disease.

“What” to water means picking the plants and crops whose survival and productivity depend on a steady stream of water. These include your vegetable garden, which will simply shut down or develop kinky problems without a predictable inch of water a week. For example, tomatoes, the home gardener’s favorite vegetable, especially suffer from erratic watering in hot weather. The fruit may crack or develop a dark blemish at the blossom end, which is called blossom-end rot.

Also in the “must-water” category are trees and shrubs planted in the past year and a half, valuable plants that are still getting adjusted to their new surroundings. New lawns planted since last fall also fit into this category.

It is the technique, the “how” of watering, that many people get wrong. Shallow watering - a quick sprinkle that merely wets the top inch or two of soil - encourages plants to grow shallow roots. That makes them even more vulnerable to drought.

Amazingly, gardeners tell me they think they are helping their plants when they sprinkle lightly every day. But a lot of that water is lost to evaporation, especially on hot days. With less-frequent but longer watering, you push the water deep into the soil; 5 or 6 inches deep is good.