Shrub Plant Watering Practices

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How to Water Your New Shrubs and Plants

There are many exceptions to the following guidelines. Species specific research is encouraged for customers interested in the proper maintenance of their trees.

The #1 cause of death for new plants in urban landscapes is over watering. Over watering can push all of the oxygen out of the soil and actually choke a plant to death faster than under watering will kill the plant of dehydration. Be sure water is draining from your plant so it isn’t sitting in a puddle of water for an extended period of time after watering. Poorly draining soils will require much less water than outlined below

The key is to keep the soil around the root system moist, without drowning the plants. Touching the ground and feeling the soil moisture at the base of your plant is always the best way to determine watering needs. If the ground is really wet, don’t water. If the ground is really dry, consider watering more often or a few seconds longer than outlined below.

Avoid letting water splash on plant leaves if at all possible, particularly if watering after 8 a.m. The best time of day to water is between 4-8 a.m.

After the initial establishment, plants should be watered once or twice a month for the first 1-2 years, even during the winter, if/when weather permits, and especially during summer. We recommend hand watering plants during the first 2-4 weeks because it is a significantly more effective way to water plants evenly and/or detect plants which go into decline before it’s too late to utilize our replacement warranty.

Weeks Since Planted Watering Schedule using a Hose@ Full Pressure

1-2 Once daily (3-6 seconds)

3-6 3x/Week (3-6 seconds)

7-8 1x/Week (5-10 seconds)

Weeks Since Planted Using Irrigation System

1-2 Daily watering at half of normal watering time(Twice daily during Summer heat)

3-8 3x/week (regular watering schedule)

*Increase frequencies of watering to daily to compensate for additional water loss from temperatures above 85*F. Decrease frequencies of watering to compensate for lack of water loss during temperatures below 45*F