@Wildlifelover I would say watering with a can right down at the roots and stopping now and then just to let it soak in and stop run off is deep watering. I am struggling at present as I feel guilty at using tap water at all. I am keeping a look out for a few favourite plants but that is it. What survives will be lifted an split when weather allows. Maybe Christmas Day if necessary.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
Thanks but how can I tell if I’ve watered deep enough? My watering can is 10ltr and I always water about an inch above the ground so it is ‘targeted’ so to speak and not willy-nilly, with no real run off.
@Wildlifelover - my (personal) definition of 'deep watering' is to stand over a shrub - with a watering can (or a hose if you've calculated the rate of flow) - and give an individual plant a measured and significant amount of water.
For an individual perennial that might be 5 litres, for a shrub or tree it will be anything from 10 to 20 litres. But the important thing is that it's water targetted towards the roots (not the leaves) of a specific plant (maybe small group of plants) - stopping for a bit if there's too much run-off - and ensuring that the individual plant gets a good drink.
The opposite end of the spectrum is wafting a sprinkler or hose over a whole bed and penetrating the soil to about 1 or 2 cms and soaking the leaves of lots of plants. That sort of watering is a waste of time and resources in these conditions.
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Both. 15 litres minimum for deep watering a clematis or medium shrub and more for big plants but 15 litres for a small shrub or sapling tree might be excessive.
The trick is not to do shallow watering where the water does not penetrate and the roots are then encourage dto stay, or grow towards, the soil surface and then get fried to a crisp in hot weather.
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)."
Thanks, that’s really helpful. I think my watering has been efficient/sufficient as I’ve not lost anything with the heat waves/drought and although some plants are struggling a bit (mostly with powdery mildew) they are still hanging on and producing flowers/new growth.
Here's a question. With shrubs and young trees I'm always tempted to direct the watering towards the base of the stem/trunk, but is this really where the feeding roots are to be found? Is it better to water a little further away, beneath the edge of the canopy?
@Wildlifelover I used to water the garden daily with a little bit and changed it this year to once a week but longer. Once a months, I gave them "rain" for 1 hour. Yesterday, we got an overview about the water use compare to what we used in previous years at this time of the year, and we are still with £3 in plus, which means I haven't used more water than in previous years.
@duncan.smith775 I have the same with my weigela, vibernum and spirea.
I still water the roots regularly and hope they make it.
My echinacea plants look now like this, but the leaves are still okay.
After the first heat, they looked like this, on July 27:
We are Thames region and will also get a hosepipe pan soon. Talking to a neighbour yesterday, we can't believe that we will get rain next week. We didn't have rain for ages now. Last rain was for less than an hour on July 23, the Wednesday after the first heat, in May twice a week over a period of 3 weeks, on March 17, and before that, it was in November last year. I just managed it to fill the 375l water tanks, no excess water that had to be binned. The crazy thing is that having 10 water tanks wouldn't change anything if there is no rain in winter to fill them.
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For an individual perennial that might be 5 litres, for a shrub or tree it will be anything from 10 to 20 litres. But the important thing is that it's water targetted towards the roots (not the leaves) of a specific plant (maybe small group of plants) - stopping for a bit if there's too much run-off - and ensuring that the individual plant gets a good drink.
The opposite end of the spectrum is wafting a sprinkler or hose over a whole bed and penetrating the soil to about 1 or 2 cms and soaking the leaves of lots of plants. That sort of watering is a waste of time and resources in these conditions.
The trick is not to do shallow watering where the water does not penetrate and the roots are then encourage dto stay, or grow towards, the soil surface and then get fried to a crisp in hot weather.
I ♥ my garden.
Yesterday, we got an overview about the water use compare to what we used in previous years at this time of the year, and we are still with £3 in plus, which means I haven't used more water than in previous years.
@duncan.smith775 I have the same with my weigela, vibernum and spirea. I still water the roots regularly and hope they make it.
My echinacea plants look now like this, but the leaves are still okay.
After the first heat, they looked like this, on July 27:
We are Thames region and will also get a hosepipe pan soon. Talking to a neighbour yesterday, we can't believe that we will get rain next week. We didn't have rain for ages now. Last rain was for less than an hour on July 23, the Wednesday after the first heat, in May twice a week over a period of 3 weeks, on March 17, and before that, it was in November last year. I just managed it to fill the 375l water tanks, no excess water that had to be binned.
The crazy thing is that having 10 water tanks wouldn't change anything if there is no rain in winter to fill them.
I ♥ my garden.