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Watering garden border

alexwildliferescuealexwildliferescue Posts: 79
in Problem solving
Can anyone advise how often to water garden borders during summer months? I water my borders every three days during hot weather. A few friends don’t water their borders at all and flowers seem fine. Not sure if I water to much or to little 

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    What are you growing in what kind of soil and roughly where are you?

    If the soil has been well prepared and suitable subjects planted in a "right plant right place" system and watered well, then they shouldn't need regular watering except in very hot or dry periods and then it's best to water individual plants deeply once a week to make sure they keep their roots down deep and not up near the surface where they can fry.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • InglezinhoInglezinho Posts: 568
    edited June 2021
    It depends an awful lot on what you are growing. Some plants need more water than others. You need to consider this when planting. Automatic watering systems are available but expensive and can result in overwatering in wet weather. I am away from home at least a month during the year, so only grow drought-tolerant species. Fortunately roses come into that category in the English climate! Good luck!
    Everyone likes butterflies. Nobody likes caterpillars.
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    We only watered our borders when they were newly planted and then it was only once or twice after the initial watering. We don’t water them at all now. I agree with @obelixx that watering should only be needed on an exceptional basis. Here in the UK, from my experience, that’s very rarely required and we’ve gardened on both clay and sandy soil. I do keep an eye on new plants and water them if they are struggling but not otherwise.

    Adding compost/manure will improve the water retaining qualities of your soil and using a mulch helps reduce evaporation. I don’t mulch the whole garden, as I can’t generate enough compost, but I don’t like bare soil so plant densely and allow lots of plants to self seed and this helps retain moisture in the same way. Despite the extra load on the soil and “competition” it always surprises me how moist the soil is beneath the surface despite all the plant growth.



     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
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