Q: How much should I be watering this time of year?

A:  Watering effectively during the heat of summer can be tricky, especially with new plants.  My first response is to water deeply and as infrequently as the plants’ health will allow.  Use your finger or a moisture meter to determine soil moisture several inches deep. Use a trowel to dig down 6-8” below the surface to see if you are watering deeply enough. 

New plants will need to be babied with extra hand watering as needed during hot weather.  Don’t rely on lawn sprinklers to adequately water newly planted trees or shrubs. 

Check the original root ball of the new plant every day or so to determine its moisture content; it contains most of the plant roots for the first few weeks until they move out into the surrounding soil and will dry out more quickly than the backfill.

Keep in mind that repeated drought stresses will reduce plant vigor, inhibit nutrient uptake, cause browning of leaf edges, slow or stop flowering and fruiting, as well as make them more susceptible to insect and disease infestions.  Denver Water has a great tool for reporting how much water is lost per day each week in inches. https://www.denverwater.org/sites/default/files/weather-data-report.pdf   Lately it has been nearly 2” per week.  This will help you know how much water needs to be applied to replace what is lost.  See next question.

Keith Funk is handling our Q & A this year. You may have visited one of Keith’s Denver area gardens on a tour or know him from his years at Echter’s and now at Nick’s Garden Center. For 30 years he’s been heard every Saturday morning from 7-9 with fellow Wise Guy, Jim Borland, on the Garden Wise Radio Show on Legends 810AM.