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Nursery Notes: Proper watering can create a stronger garden

At face value, watering would seem to be the most mundane of tasks. However it really can make or break a “green” business...
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Evan Davies owns Beltane Nursery at 2915 Highway 3 in Erickson.

I once worked with a woman in a large greenhouse who said she was a PHD. Clearly Mary-Ann had not seen the inside of a university. Upon enquiry she related that she was a Part-time Hose Dragger.

Every once in a while, I feel compelled to write a column on how to water. At face value it would seem to be the most mundane of tasks. However it really can make or break a “green” business. I watch professional types at other operations run into all kinds of problems due to their watering practices. Too much, too little, too often, wrong time or just not in time. Once the damage is done, it’s too late.

For the average homeowner and part-time gardener, here are a few tips gleaned from 25 years of watering experience:

•Water early in the day so leaves can dry as fast as possible. This will prevent fungal infections through a wet spring.

•Use a hose end water breaker, a gentle sprinkler or even soaker hoses so as not to compact the soil. Plant roots need air and growth is maximized in a lighter soil. Splashing plants with a strong stream of water from an open hose end will compact the soil and may also spread bad bacteria around if they are present. Water thoroughly each time.

•Encourage deep rooting. Let the soil or other growing medium dry out between watering but water again before you see plants begin to wilt. Many plants’ leaves change colour when they are dry but before they wilt. Learn to read your plants. Some plants come from tropical rain forests and will need more water while others like most Mediterranean culinary herbs are well adapted to drought conditions. Most B.C. native plants are also well adapted to a summer drought and make excellent landscape plants for the homeowner.

•Don’t water in the evening if you can help it. The longer plants stay wet the greater the chance of disease getting a foothold. I try to have all the watering taken care of before we open at 9:30 each morning.  On a really hot summer day we recheck the crops in the early afternoon but that is only when the days are long enough so the sunlight will dry them quickly.

If you are establishing a new tree or shrub in your yard, it may take a few years. Adding some peat moss or compost, which is high in organic matter, will help increase the amount of moisture available to your new plants when you water. If you have automatic irrigation, try setting a few coffee cups out around the yard so as to determine the actual coverage.

Overwatering should not refer to the amount of water during a single irrigation cycle; rather, it is the frequency of application. Soak everything in well and then let them dry out. Plants that spend all of their time in wet soil conditions don't get enough air and root growth is suppressed.

If you are growing plants in containers remember that the taller the container the better the drainage. Having one growing mix from the bottom of the container to the top will help with drainage. Rocks are only useful as weight in the bottom of a lightweight container.

That’s all for now. Happy gardening!

Evan Davies owns Beltane Nursery at 2915 Highway 3 in Erickson.