Newly planted trees and shrubs are particularly susceptible to drying out.
Summer often means inconsistent weather. Hot, sunny days are followed by high humidity (or mugginess, as my mother likes to call it) and sometimes severe thunderstorms.
Unfortunately, the rain may be spotty. It could rain heavily in one town and be bone dry a few miles away.
So gardeners need to stay on their toes with watering. When watering annual flowers and veggies, do so infrequently, but deeply. By watering only a few times a week, but soaking the soil down 6 inches, you'll encourage the roots to stay deep and be less likely to dry out.
Frequent sprinkling wetting only the top of the soil encourages roots to stay on the surface, making them more likely to suffer from drought. Hand-water with a hose, or set up a soaker hose to water regularly. Try not to wet the leaves to reduce the amount of disease that forms.
Newly planted trees and shrubs are particularly susceptible to drying out. Soak a new tree at least 8 inches deep each time.
To tell if you've added enough water, push a long screwdriver into the soil after watering. If it slides down without resistance, that's enough water. If there's resistance, it's probably still dry, deep down, and it needs more water.
Another technique is to count to 30 as you water with a moderate flow from the hose. You can also use gator bags on new trees and shrubs.
These plastic sleeves fit around the tree or shrub. Once filled with 15 to 20 gallons of water, they slowly seep the water out and keep plant roots moist. Fill them up twice a week if it doesn't rain.
Next week on the Connecticut Garden Journal, I'll be talking about woodchucks. Until then, I'll be seeing you in the garden.
