I don't water. The exceptions are potted plants, and things in their spot less than a year. Occassionally, I do break down and water things like the hydrangeas that look really awful, but from a survival standpoint, I'm not convinced they need it.

I totally agree with the landscapers that routine watering is a bad idea. Absolutely the worst drought losses I've heard locally invariably involve regular watering, that has to stop because of extreme water shortages.

"I've been told by two landscapers that I really respect that it can do more harm than good - they say that any kind of watering only promotes shallow roots."

Bull. The plants don't know the difference between rain water and water from a hose/can. Water deeply but only when needed. If you wait for rain you will probably have a lot of dead plants unless you plant drought tolerant only. But I guess the landscapers might like that, it would keep them in business.

I adhere to the same exceptions as mad_gallica, ie potted/container plants and newly planted trees and perennials. I water nothing else on a regular basis unless hot, dry weather has persisted for a week or longer, and then only every few days.

I hand water only, as my gardens and trees are spread out over 2 1/2 acres and my garden hose won't reach that far, so I suspect my gardens receive less water to begin with.

We had a good thunderstorm a day ago, and today it is raining again. I hope the drought is over for other New Englanders as well.

I (usually) water anything that has been planted or transplanted in the past year. If they are large specimens, maybe for 2 years. Established shrubs/trees do not get watered. For example, I planted some Emerald green Arborvitae about 4 years ago, and they were large (10-15 gallon pots) so I watered them pretty thoroughly for 2 years when dry. This year, they haven't been watered all.

I plant, transplant, divide and start from seed so many plants that I have to water those in this type of weather or they will perish. But I try to water the minimum (to conserve a precious resource). I have lost blooms this year, or they look like crap, and even possibly lost a plant or 3 that was overlooked, but most of them are alive.

Some exceptions that are watered enough to grow well - veggies, seedlings, and special perennials like Lobelia cardinalis, which is a wetland plant, and the hummingbirds love it. That gets watered pretty regularly. Couldn't bear the thought of losing the blooms, the hummers would suffer from the loss of one of their favorite nectar sources.

We are predicted to get heavy rain tonight and tomorrow!

> it can do more harm than good

It can if it's not done correctly - but that's true of almost anything we do in the garden.

Like others, I only water recently planted things, pots, and a few water hogs like hydrangeas, when they get too limp and pathetic looking. Those get a soaker hose left on for a very long time, but infrequently. Some years they don't need a drop, but this year is 'special' I guess.

Many thanks for your responses - I suppose the proof is in the pudding, and I can't see that I've ever lost anything from not watering (with the exception of pots and annuals), so I guess I kinda knew the answer, but nice to hear that other people feel the same way. Anyway, I have almost an acre of gardens, and that would take way too much water.

Now, if there was only an easy way to stop the deer or woodchuck that munched through a row of hostas yesterday while I was at work, life would be perfect!

I'm also not big on watering.

Our town typically has an odd/even water ban during the summer. But this year it is an outright watering ban. No hoses or sprinklers. Only hand watering. And you can only hand water between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am.

I do water my patio pots, window boxes and planters on the front stoop. That's probably 30-35 pots. And 15 trips with my teeny tiny watering pot. But the spigot is close, so only takes me 10 minutes or so. In this heat I had to do it daily. And I did drag the watering can down to the vegetable garden twice recently.

But other than that, I have the attitude that if it needs regular watering, it can go live in someone elses yard.

During the extended drought and heat of a week or 2 ago, here in Cambridge I saw a 25-ft. tree next door get lots of yellow leaves. And during a serious area-wide drought a few years ago, I saw many trees along the highways in eastern MA get their autumn colors in July. There was an article about that drought, and it said the lack of water would affect the growth and survival of many trees. So I alerted my neighbor (tree owner) and she soaked it for a half day, and it looks better. So I think you have to judge the plant (or tree) and its location and water needs individually.

As for perennials, most do OK, but I have some right along the street edge that have to deal with reflected heat, and they need more water than the others. The hydrangeas are drama queens, gasping and drooping in full sun every day; but if I want them to look good (not just survive), I have to give them a drink.

Uh-oh, Carol, you're projecting....

Carol

Seems that there are a couple of gardening goals here...

(1) keeping plants alive or not and (2) keeping them happy and looking good and blooming well

goal #1 generally requires less water than goal #2. The trick is to have a lot of plants than can satisfy goal #2 without a lot of water. Or settle for goal #1

My thirsty plants are mostly in shade in deep soil. My tough plants are in the sun in really well draining soil. So I am able to get what I want with not too much watering. But I do water. Because I don't garden for goal #1

except for the lawn... blech... barely alive is fine for me.

Carol, you're a hoot!

Like most of you, with the exception of things that are newly planted (we planted two new trees this year to replace two that we lost in a storm over the winter) and my potted vegetable garden which is on the deck and in bright sun for most of the day, we don't water daily or on a routine basis either.

The veggies do get watered daily as a rule, but I also try to capture rainwater which I then use to water them - a trick we learned from some friends in GA who lived through the drought involving Lake Lanier. It's easily done by directing water from the gutters into 55 gallon trash barrels.

If it's been a week or two with high heat and no rain, we look to see who is wilting (OTHER than ME) and we water if the plants are showing signs of significant stress, but honestly, that doesn't happen very often and we only give a good soaking to those beds that are looking haggard. But when we water, we do soak them thoroughly, and we do it either in the very early AM or late evening.

One thing we did a couple of years ago that has made a tremendous difference was to invest in SoilMoist and add it into our beds around every plant. This is a synthetic additive that holds a tremendous amount of water (200 times its weight) and then releases it during times of drought, when the plants need it most.

Adding it after the fact is a major chore because you can't just spread it around the garden or rake it into the soil around the plant -- you need to get it down near the roots. That meant either digging down along side the plant or lifting the plants out completely, adding the SoilMoist, and then replanting. It took us an entire growing season to get started with it. Now when we plant, we add a couple of tablespoons or more for something larger like a tree and we add it in the bottom of the hole with the compost and manure.

Putting it where it can help larger shrubs and roses can be challenging and very time consuming if they aren't easily lifted. When we were dealing with some of the huge roses and shrubs, we dug down next to them using a heavy duty long handled weeding tool and sometimes a bulb planting tool to make a narrow tunnel next to the plant so that we could be sure to get the SoilMoist deep enough.

I've been told that it does have a "life span" but so far, it seems to be doing the job and has shown no signs of losing it's water retaining ability. Other than the trees, which need watering a couple of times a week at least, and some new things we planted, which were watered liberally until they got established, (and the vegetables on the deck), I don't think we've watered more than 6 times this entire season. And once even a new plant becomes established, it often only needs watering when the entire bed does -- the SoilMoist is that effective.

Mulching also makes a big difference. We use shredded leaf mold for mulch and that also reduces the amount of watering needed as it provides protection from the sun and slows drying considerably. Best of all, it composts right in the beds and becomes the darkest humus you've ever seen (except for that gorgeous black dirt in Minnesota).

We make our own mulch. We get several truckloads of leaves dropped off in the fall by a landscaper friend who only brings leaves from properties that he maintains so we know that they are going to be free of serious pest problems (like nasty blights) and unwanted chemicals.

Over the course of the fall, we run them through the Mighty Max and then we let them compost over the winter, covered by tarps. Then we run them through Max again in the spring. This gets put on the beds as a mulch and in the fall, we top them off again and add a bit of manure as well with another couple of inches

Having done it both ways in the same garden, I can tell you with certainty that the combination of the SoilMoist and the thick mulch really makes a dramatic difference in terms of watering. Our gardens are pretty extensive and people often ask us where we hide the irrigation heads. (We don't have an irrigation system at all.) We have only a half acre but the entire thing is a series of garden beds. (We do have a token bed of "grass" and yes, it did turn brown during the recent dry spell we had -- it isn't blessed with the benefit of SoilMoist or mulch LOL -- but the rest of the beds were only watered in some cases once, some cases twice, and some cases not at all.

Before we started using this regimen, we were watering some part of this garden daily and we were losing plants despite our best efforts. Now, even the weeds look like they're right out of Jurassic Park.

Cathy (MA)

I water my vegetable garden and outside flowers in containers two times a wqeek. Other than that I don't water. Spring ephemerals (pansies,bulbs, bleeding hearts) naturally die off after spring, but faithfully come back the next year, so I don't suppose it would make any difference if I did water.

I water newly planted perennials, trees and bushes every day for a month. Then they're on their own unless we have a serious drought, in which case I water them occasionally.

I water plants in pots every day, and my vegie garden and annual flowers from seed every day until they are grown, then every other day or so.

This thread was an eye-opener for me last summer, and made me rethink my watering habits. I thought it was worth revisiting.

Claire