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WHITBY FREE PRESS, OLJTDOOR LIVING, J UNiS 15, 1988, PAGE I~AS 'Know your garden' when it cornes to waterin-g By RICHARDf PECMIAN Retail Operations Supervisor Oshawa Garden Service The bot and bumid weatber of these past few weeks bas seen the majority of us beading for the nortb country, often neglecting our flower beds and lawns, not te mention our banging baskets. Witb tbis bumid weatber an abundance of tbunderstormns usually follo.w. This tends to make us think our lawns and plants are receiving an abundance of water. How mucb water is needed by our lawns and foundation plantings is a common question at the garden centres. Watering isn't difficult to do properly, and it's easy to give general advice on the subject, but offering specific advice is very difficuit. This is because there are so many variables te be considered: soul type and siope, bumidity, type of plant grown, weather, season, light intensity, wind, temperature, wbetber the soul is covered with a mulch, depth of topsoil, and on and on. Ail these factors are best known to the individual gardener. So the first word of advice te you, tbe gardener, should be: "Knový your garden." Most plants grown in a good loam soil are far more tolerant of a range of watering practices, good and bad, tban if they were grown in either dlay or sandy souls, botb of whicb are notoriously difficulIt te water properly. It is barder te establisb proper water-air-plant relationships in a dlay soul, because water enters the small soil pores slowly, overwatering causes flooding, wbicb deprives plant roots or oxygen, and tbe soils compact easily. The gardener wbo manages a dlay soul must learn to provide alternate wetting and particle drying of tbe soil. The drying is te allow air into tbe soul. The majority of Whitby and Osbawa residents fali into this category. The only way to correct this difficult growing medium is to remove large sections of your planting area and replace it with good loam, commonly called planting soul. Sandy souls provide fast drainage and good aeration, but tbey do not retain much water. They must be watered often. Applying water correctlyis essential for a bealthy, successful garden and lawn. Don't forget, thougb, tbat tbe best watering practices in tbe world will not make up for deficiencies of. minerai nutrients, lack of weed control or incorrect planting procedures. It is difficuit te give general advice on specific watering. practices, but a couple of time-honored rules should be followed. If you water througbly and too frequently, there's a good chance that youl cut off the supply of air in the soul by filling aIl of the air spaces witb water. On the other hand, if you water too lightly and frequently, the water neyer bas a chance to move very far inte the soil; a buge amount can be evaporated inte the air, and root growth in your plants or lawn becomes very shallow. The general rule of green tbumbs is: wben you water, water well and learn bow long it takes for your particular between wateiings. soul to dry Watering in the early morning will reduce plant diseases and lose less water to evaporation. The reason is clear: leaves (including blades of grass) that stay damp through the night are more likely to attract disease-causing organisms. Water in the morning gives the plant a chance to dry out during the day. How can you tell if you're watering throughly? The best way is to take a look underground, past the tep three or four inches of soul, using a shovel. This is to make sure water is getting down deep enough to get te the area wbere the roots are. Underground sprinkler systemns are very convemient for large gardens and lawns and for those with little timne to water. Good even coverage us acbieved with a Tomatoes require regniuar watermg Tomatoes prefer a regular supply of water throughout their growing season. An erratic and inconsistent water supply can encourage the fruit to split as it matures. Here's a nifty way to make sure your tomatoes are getting the water they need when they need it. Save the plastic jugs that liquid detergent, fabric softener, and bleach bottles corne in. Make sure you thoroughly wash out the con- tainers. When you plant your tomatoes, between each one, dig a hole deep enough for the bottles te be buried, leaving enough room for the bottle's opening to be about two inches above the soil. Poke a number of holes in the bot- tom. A knitting needie or metal skewer will work. Pack the soit around them. F111 the jugs with water and put the caps on them. Refi as needed, probably about on- ce a week. You can even add a water soluble fertilizer every couple of weeks. The water drips slowly into the soil, and the plant s water frumn the roots up. minimum of guesswork. These can be professionally installed or self-installed by the do-it-yourselfer for under $250, computer and all. A Spra-Rite irrigation system and a gardening computer lets you program a watering cycle seven days a week if desired. Ail turf grasses used for estbetic or recreational purposes must receive supplemental irrigation if they are to pertorm their function. Ail turf grasses used for estbetic or recreational purposes must receive supplemental irrigation if they are te perform their function. A home lawn sbould not be watered until the first drougbt symptoms occur. Patches of turf showing drought first take on a darker green color and the leaf blades fold inward. Timing is important, for if the droughted turf is allowed to remain without water for a couple of days in severe stress conditions, the grass will be injured, turn brown and will be slow to respond to subsequent irrigation. This is usually the case in the early sprîng. If irrigation amount and frequency are too low, Kentucky bluegrass will not be very healthy, the lawn will become thin and the main weed grass will be quack grass. Quack grass is very drought-tolerant and becomes aggressive in low- management home lawns. In Durham Region, a good rule and easy to remnember, is to water your lawn and plants once or twice a week, with a long soaking period to permit deep root systemns. On clay soil water only once a week. Proper irrigation provides a lusb green lawn, witb littie weeds. Give your green friends a lot of water once a week. Remember they provide you with oxygen daily. A fair trade was neyer easier. 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