Grow Up!
Watering -- I can't quite get the hang of it here. When my gardens are mature it should be easier. I've planted things that are drought resistant once established, and if I want to go away for five days in the summer, mature dry-adapted plants will survive until my return.
But they're not established yet.
With new transplants, some still so very little and spindly, I am finding I have to water deeply every day, even the lavender and rosemary and things that want dry conditions once they are grown. If I go two days without soaking them, they wilt or get brown leaves, especially if a dry wind kicks up in the evenings, which happens.
I have moved some plants that were not thriving, and when I dug them up, I found the roots were surrounded by dry, powdery soil. That's despite spending hours drenching everything I've planted almost every day. The soil is so dry deep down that my best efforts only get the top few inches wet, and rapid transpiration through the leaves moves moisture right back out into the dry air.
Any possibility of getting water any deeper in the dirt is thwarted either by tree roots that take all the moisture, or by hydrophobic soil. That's bone dry dirt that won't accept water -- the surface tension of the water prevents it seeping into hydrophobic soil. Water is repelled, and my soaking efforts only pool water ineffectively near the top of the soil.
You can add wetting agents that break the water's surface tension and let it spread out -- dish soap works well to do that. But adding enough dish soap to water many large garden spaces is impractical. The ultimate answer is better soil. Mulch and compost.
I've been doing that -- mulching and adding compost -- to all the things I plant. But like the watering schedule, I'm not getting the hang of it. Apparently I need more.
We have plans to go away. We're spending 5 days with my son and his wife in L.A. over Labor Day weekend, and in mid September we're taking a train trip to the Grand Canyon for 5 days.
It's too much to ask a neighbor to come over and water, I simply have too many little plants in too many different spots around the yard and it takes me an hour or more to get them all hose watered. I can't ask someone to do that.
I ordered some soaker hoses and a timer to put on the faucet so I can set an automatic schedule to drip soak some of the gardens while we're gone, but that's only going to cover two spaces. I need many more, but that's verging on impractical.
This dilemma would be solved if the little plants would fill out, mature, and settle in to their dry loving ways. In this climate I'll still need to water an established planting, but a five day break won't hurt anything.
Right now my gardens are like new puppies or toddlers -- they can't be left on their own. I'm impatient for them to grow up.
But they're not established yet.
With new transplants, some still so very little and spindly, I am finding I have to water deeply every day, even the lavender and rosemary and things that want dry conditions once they are grown. If I go two days without soaking them, they wilt or get brown leaves, especially if a dry wind kicks up in the evenings, which happens.
I have moved some plants that were not thriving, and when I dug them up, I found the roots were surrounded by dry, powdery soil. That's despite spending hours drenching everything I've planted almost every day. The soil is so dry deep down that my best efforts only get the top few inches wet, and rapid transpiration through the leaves moves moisture right back out into the dry air.
Any possibility of getting water any deeper in the dirt is thwarted either by tree roots that take all the moisture, or by hydrophobic soil. That's bone dry dirt that won't accept water -- the surface tension of the water prevents it seeping into hydrophobic soil. Water is repelled, and my soaking efforts only pool water ineffectively near the top of the soil.
You can add wetting agents that break the water's surface tension and let it spread out -- dish soap works well to do that. But adding enough dish soap to water many large garden spaces is impractical. The ultimate answer is better soil. Mulch and compost.
I've been doing that -- mulching and adding compost -- to all the things I plant. But like the watering schedule, I'm not getting the hang of it. Apparently I need more.
We have plans to go away. We're spending 5 days with my son and his wife in L.A. over Labor Day weekend, and in mid September we're taking a train trip to the Grand Canyon for 5 days.
It's too much to ask a neighbor to come over and water, I simply have too many little plants in too many different spots around the yard and it takes me an hour or more to get them all hose watered. I can't ask someone to do that.
I ordered some soaker hoses and a timer to put on the faucet so I can set an automatic schedule to drip soak some of the gardens while we're gone, but that's only going to cover two spaces. I need many more, but that's verging on impractical.
This dilemma would be solved if the little plants would fill out, mature, and settle in to their dry loving ways. In this climate I'll still need to water an established planting, but a five day break won't hurt anything.
Right now my gardens are like new puppies or toddlers -- they can't be left on their own. I'm impatient for them to grow up.
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