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Index : Watering
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- 19. It's Time to Prepare Plants for Hot Weather Ahead - Top
- May is our month of transition in the garden and landscape. The transition from delightfully cool and pleasant April, to the hot, windy, nearly "blast-furnace-like" conditions of June. It' crucial to make adjustments to watering, and in the case of garden plants, be ready with some sun-shading strategies well before June arrives.
Watering of all plants will need to be increased in frequency in May. If potted patio plants have been watered a couple of times a week, it's time to increase to every other day. Daily watering will be required in June.
Garden beds of flowers and vegetables will require daily watering as will any raised bed gardens. It's also important to put a layer of water-conserving mulch down over the soil. I like
a straw-mulch for vegetables. A three to four inch layer will really shade and cool the soil and hold in moisture. It will also help prevent blossom-end rot of tomatoes, a condition caused when the soil dries out too much between watering.
For flower beds and newly planted trees and shrubs, I prefer using ground Western Cedar Mulch. Ground cedar can be purchased in bags at select area home improvement and hardware stores. It's interlocking fibers prevent it from being blown or washed away, even in the heaviest of rains. If you need help in locating a source, contact our office at: 626-5161.
In addition to ground cedar, a product called "Forest Mulch" may also be used. It is a chipped wood product, best applied to level areas. Because it does not have the interlocking characteristics of ground wood, it can wash away if placed on sloped areas. Both ground wood and forest mulch should be applied to a depth of two to three inches.
If you have citrus trees on drip irrigation, I recommend giving them an extra application of water using a soaker hose once or twice weekly during May. The fruit are just starting to grow in size, and insufficient water now will either cause the fruit to abort or to be stunted.
Wrap the soaker hose around the citrus tree, starting at the base and extending out a few feet beyond the end of the branches. Open the faucet slightly. Opening it too much will cause the water to come rushing out, and instead of dripping slowly as it should, the soaker hose will spray water. Let the soaker hose run for two or three hours to give a deep-soaking of the soil. Remember, the soaker hose watering is in addition to your normal drip irrigation cycle, not in place of it!
All new plants require daily watering, especially during May and June. Soft-stemmed flowers and vegetables may require twice-daily watering until their roots have expanded enough to get a larger drink. The first few days after planting, shade these delicate garden plants from mid-day and afternoon sun. If plants look drooped and wilted, spray them with cool water. That will cool the plants internal temperature and slow the rate of moisture loss - enough so they will perk back up in a short time. Do it as often as needed till the plant can stand up, and stay up on it's own.
Newly planted trees and shrubs will also need daily watering for a few weeks after planting, even the true desert plants like palo verde and mesquite. Continue watering frequently through the Summer months. It takes landscape plants a full year to become completely established. At that time, desert plants can get by with only occasional watering, once or twice monthly, to keep them healthy.
Deep watering is the key to success with plants. Water as deeply as the roots will grow. For trees that's about 3 feet down. For shrubs it's 2 feet. For smaller ground cover plants, flowers and vegetables water 18 inches deep. If you have drip irrigation, you may have to let your system run for several hours to get the water to soak down to that depth. If your watering one hour or less, chances are your only wetting the top few inches of soil. In the heat of June that amount of water can be gone in less than a day!
The best way to know how deeply your watering is to use a soil probe. A metal rod, such as a piece of re-bar (concrete reinforcing bar) is best for this purpose. You can purchase one in a five foot length at home supply stores. The rod can be pushed easily through moist soil, but will stop when you hit dry soil. Try several spots in case the rod encounters a rock. Pull the rod up and measure the depth of wetting. If the water did not penetrate deeply enough, increase the length of time your drip system is running.
"Storing and Using Summer Rain Water for Gardens & Landscapes" is the topic for this week's garden demonstrations. They will be presented on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at the Pima county Extension Center, 4210 N. Campbell Ave; and at 1 p.m. at the Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road; and again on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Marana Planning Services on the Northeast corner of Orange Grove and Thornydale.
Written by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the University of Arizona, 520-626-5161. - Updated: May 4, 2003
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