Heat and Deep Watering

With all the rain and the heat and temperatures coming, we are going to probably start seeing a little bit more mildew and that kind of stuff, especially in veggie gardens.

You definitely want to make sure you’re watering some of the new stuff that was planted. I know we talked to somebody last week at the nursery, and they said, hey, I got this tree. It doesn’t seem like it’s doing really well. They brought in some pictures, and they haven’t been watering it. They thought the rain was enough. 

Now, the rain is fine for annuals and perennials, stuff with a real shallow root system. But trees and shrubs are going to have a much deeper root system. They’re still going to need some supplemental watering that first year or two to really be able to take a good foothold in the soil.

And when you water a tree and you need the water to get down deep in the soil, you want to water slowly. Let a hose trickle. Take a five-gallon bucket. I have one of my customers who drilled a bunch of real tiny holes in the bottom of the five-gallon bucket and then filled the bucket with water and let it drip out into the soil. And he can move that bucket to different sides of the root system so that when he waters, he waters very deeply. And he doesn’t have to stand there the whole time.

If things are kind of undercover, too, I have a planter that was undercover, and it wasn’t getting it. So I still had to go out there and water it. It’s just kind of one of those things you can kind of forget about.

Even in shade tree situations, like I’ve got some pines, I’ve got some big oak trees, it really doesn’t get the rain underneath there like you think it does. That canopy kind of sheds that moisture to the outside.

Since we’re talking about that, too, this was another question about with the 90-degree temperatures coming, ‘tips on watering and about upcoming bug treatment, anything that we have to worry about?’

I think we may have some insect issues, but it’s going to really proliferate the fungus. Funguses love humid, wet weather, and boy, we’ve sure had some of that this year.

And with the humidity coming, too. And another thing, too, just try to, I know weeds are just coming up like crazy, but keeping your garden free of weeds is really going to help cut down that as well.

And good air movement is another thing. I mean, we can’t always control that, but if you have any dead sticks or branches in the plants, by trimming that out, you increase the air flow, which reduces problems with insects and diseases.

Rain will water annuals, sometimes perennials, but, trees and shrubs, their root system, newly planted stuff, is much deeper than the annuals and the perennials. They are still probably going to need some supplemental watering, depending on how wet the soil is in that area when you plant them. It is a good idea to keep an eye on them. We had somebody that had bought a willow tree and had not been watering it, thinking the rain was enough.

The willow is extremely water-loving. Certain plants you do not want to overwater. You have got to be careful how much you are putting on. A willow or a birch tree will literally grow underwater, so there is no amount of water you can put on it that is going to hurt it, unless it is underwater for days and days at a time.

Knowing the tree that you planted is useful. The newer planted trees are still probably going to need some help, even though we are getting rain, especially when the rain comes fast. It hits the ground and a lot of it runs off. It does not have a chance to soak in when it comes so hard and heavy. So, definitely slow down when you water, you want to slowly run water so it can reach deeply into the soil. Then you don’t have to water as often either.

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