After a wet, rainy, snowy fall, winter and spring, the Puget Sound region is now experiencing an unusually dry and hot summer.
Unless you have some sort of irrigation, your lawn is probably looking patchy and brown. Plants in containers need more water usual. And even well established perennials and shrubs may be looking droopy.
Plantscapes Commercial exterior Landscape Division has been turning on and adjusting irrigation for months. Many of our clients ask our technicians how they can keep their gardens and lawns at home looking green and healthy without racking up excessive water bills or wasting water.
Here are a few tips that may help:
1) Your lawn only needs 1 inch of water a week (whether from your hose or from rainfall). Don’t water in rainy weather. And don’t water during the hottest part of the day.
2) Group your plants by water requirements to simplify watering. If all plants in one bed need the same amount of water, you can use a drip irrigation system orweeping hose to keep them healthy, without fear of over- or under-watering some plants.
3) Older, established plants – such as mature shrubs and trees – have deep root systems. They can find water deep in the soil. They require much less water than new plants.
4) Use mulch. 2 inches of mulch will keep the soil cool, suppress weeds, and prevent evaporation.
5) Use native plants. Plants naturally adapted to your location are more likely to survive and even thrive in the dry Puget Sound summer and wet winter.
Photo by dougww Released under Creative Commons License