Resources Guide

Watering

Watering adequately is the best way you can care for your new plants to ensure they establish strongly, look their best, produce abundant flowers and fruit, and live long, healthy lives. Unfortunately, there’s a big difference in the meaning of “adequate watering” based on soil texture, plant size and species, and season. Below is our guide to help you know if you’re watering adequately and some tips on when to water, how much to water, and how!

General Watering Tips- Outdoor Plants

• In general, watering less often, but more deeply is best. Deep watering encourages healthy root growth and shallow watering is often lost to evaporation.
• Make sure the water is reaching the roots of the plants—all around the plants—and do your best to keep leaves dry. Wet leaves can be susceptible to burn marks and when wet overnight, they can develop disease and fungus issues.
• Hand watering or appropriate soaker hose placement is best as it allows for gradual watering without runoff, and you’ll have more control over keeping those leaves dry. Sprinklers are best for lawns, not for gardens, tress, or shrubs.

Watering Outdoor Plants

Outdoor plants like shade trees, privacy shrubs, roses, hostas, milkweed, and more have different water needs. The amount of water that each plant in your yard and garden needs is dependent on a variety of factors, like soil texture, rainfall, season, plant type, sun exposure…and ensuring they get the water they need can sometimes seem overwhelming. While there isn’t a magic formula for watering, our watering guide is a good place to start. You’ll have to take it from there and get to know your yard and plants and what they need, but that’s half the fun! And even if you’re a reluctant gardener who just wants to keep their landscape looking nice, this will help you too!

Trees, Fruit Trees, and Evergreens

For trees to establish strong, deep roots, they must be watered to encourage this growth. This means giving the tree 15-25 gallons at a time–depending on the size of the tree–for the first few years after planting. Watering should be done consistently every 7-10 days for the health and establishment of the tree, but there’s no perfect formula for watering. If your tree is small and the weather has been cool, you’ll need less water, less often (15 gallons, 10 days) than if you plant a large tree and the weather is very hot and dry. In the latter case, you’ll need to water closer to 7 days and around 25 gallons. All watering should be done right up until frost to give the trees what they need to overwinter. It may seem odd to water into October or November, but it is advisable to avoid damage.

Shrubs, Small Fruits, and Vines

For shrubs, vining plants, and small fruits, watering 2-5 gallons per week, and every 3-5 days, should be sufficient. This frequency of watering shrubs differs from that of larger trees because the root systems of shrubs are not as deep and there is more competition for the water closer to the surface. Watering should be done consistently every 3-5 days throughout the season but remember to connect with your environment and pay attention to the heat and rainfall as they will affect the overall amount you need to water. Cool weather: you’ll need less water, less often (2 gallons every 5 days). And Hot, dry weather: you’ll water 5 gallons every 3 days! Like with trees, all watering should be done right up until frost to give the shrubs enough water to overwinter. It may seem odd to water into October or November, but it is advisable to avoid damage.

Perennials

Perennials need less water than trees or shrubs , but generally need to be watered more often. While some species are more drought tolerant than others, 1-2 gallons per week for most perennials is adequate and watering every 1-3 days, should allow them to thrive. Following the specific watering instructions on plant tags can tell you which of your plants likes to dry out between waterings and which prefer a more moist environment.