Whether you’re growing herbs on your kitchen windowsill, flowers on your balcony, or a vegetable garden in your backyard, gardening is a wonderfully rewarding hobby. In fact, there’s even some evidence to support that gardening lowers stress. If you’re a beginner gardener, welcome to the family! You’ll quickly see how addicting it can be, especially with some tips to help you get the best results possible.
One of the most important things to know if you’re learning to garden is how to water plants. Sure, you can just pour some water on certain plants and they’ll probably make it, but for the best results, you need to water strategically to avoid pitfalls like root rot or dehydration. Check out these plant watering tips from Whispering Springs Nursery to get your garden off to a good start.
How to Water Plants
Get to the root of the problem.
When watering your plants, take care to water the base of the plant, not the leaves. Watering from above is not only a waste of water (depending on how the foliage of the plant is structured, the water could end up not even reaching the ground), but allowing water to sit on the leaves can also make your plants susceptible to fungus.
Don’t be shallow.
Or rather, don’t water shallow! For most plants, it’s better to water less frequently but more deeply, allowing the water to reach the roots of the plant, than to splash a little water on them more frequently. Frequent, light waterings can cause your plant to grow weak, shallow roots in a search for the moisture that’s not making its way down into the soil.
Give different plants what they need.
Plants that are in the ground will typically need to be watered less frequently than plants in containers. Flower pots and planters retain heat, which disperses through the relatively small amount of soil they hold and dries them out much faster than the ground around plants in your flower beds.
To check if your container garden needs water, all you need is your pointer finger. Stick it in the dirt up to your second knuckle. If it feels dry all the way through, your plants want a drink. If not, you can hold off on watering for another day or so.
Cover your bases.
Nope, not those (baseball) bases. Covering the bases of plants with mulch can make a huge difference in water conservation, allowing the soil to absorb the water instead of evaporating into the air. Mulching your garden beds and containers will also help to protect the soil from baking in the hot Georgia sun, and can even discourage weeds from invading your flower beds.
