14:28 - 07 July 2010
One of the most time consuming jobs in the garden is watering, and when you’ve got masses of containers, newly planted trees and shrubs, or even a thirsty greenhouse it’s an essential part of the gardening day.
you an reduce the time spent watering your garden by emplying some useful techniques and products. These will not only save you valuble time, but will also conserve water and reduce plant losses in hot weather.
As a general rule, only plants that are newly planted (up to 2 years for trees and shrubs) really need additional watering in hot weather. It’s a good idea to watch for signs of stress and be ready to water before your plants collapse in a wilted heap, but it is also essential to fillow some simple watering rules for the best restulkts.
Golden Rules
Always water out of direct sunlight, ideally at dusk when the heat of the sun has passed and the water has time to soak into the soil for the benefit of your plants.
Use rainwater where possible it is the natural way to waer your plants.
Unless it is newly sown or newly turfed don’t worry when your lawn goers brown in the drought it will alsmmot certainly recover.
Concetntreate your watering efforts on plants in containers. The compost can dry out quickly in warm or windy weather. If possible move them to a shady spot to reduce evaporation.
When you need to water ailing plants and the garden, it is better to really soak them well twice a week than to superficially water them daily. Even when you think you have soaked them, scarpae away the soil surface tos see how far the water has been absorbed, you will be quite surprised how shallow the moist area is.
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Micro-irrigation systems are the most water efficient and cost effective ways to water the garden and greenhouse. With a variety of starter kits on offer, all of which can be extended, you really can’t go wrong.
Automated systems are very versatile and can be adapted to suit individual needs and extended as plants grow. You connect a water supply pipe to an outside or greenhouse tap and, from this main pipe, run off spurs to every pot, basket, container or area of the garden or greenhouse that you want to water. At the end of each spur, or at points along its length, you can connect individual drippers, misters and spray nozzles where you want the water to fall. (Use the wider 1cm (1/2in) supply pipe on misters and spray nozzles to ensure there is enough water pressure to operate them.)
Planting techniques
But there are other techniques you can use in your garden to help your plants survive in hot weather. When planting new plants you can use the excavated soil to build a wall around the hole to keep water inside when it rains. If you are planting on a slope then build the wall around the part of the hole that is facing downhill so that any running water will gather around the precious tree or plant.
You can also create a depression in the soil around your plant, so that if you add water via a watering can it puddles within the depression, over the plant roots and then filters down through the soil without running off. This is also useful after heavy rainfall.
When planting trees bury a piece of hose with one end at the tree roots and the other end exposed at the soil surface, when watering you can pour the water down the pipe so that it by passes the surface and reaches the roots where it is needed the most.
Plant selection
Plants adapt to their growing conditions. Many of the plants that we grow in our gardens are not native to Britain and hail from all over the world. By choosing plants that tolerate similar conditions they stand a better chance of survival.
Plants are quite amazing in that they actually give us clues to indicate whether they are well suited to hot conditions. If you can learn to recognise some of these, then you are well on the way to choosing the right plants for hotter conditions.
Think about plants that grow in hot Mediterranean countries. Many have silver coloured leaves and often the leaves have tiny hairs on them: Lavender is a good example. The tiny leaf hairs protect the surface of the leaves and reduce evaporation.
Plants with long thin leaves such as grasses or rosemary have fewer stomata (leaf pores) and so evaporation from the leaf surface is much reduced.
Plants with small leaves, such as Thyme, or leathery leaves, such as sage, are also slower to give up precious water.
Spines can act as cooling fins on a plant, so these are often seen on more drought tolerant plants.
Aromatic foliage is another indicator, as the volatile oils evaporate at the leaf surface it actually cools the leaf.
Fleshy, succulent leaves store moisture for dry spells. Sedum spectabile (ice plant) is a hardy example, or Aeonium. And of course some plants use several of these mechanisms.
