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watering (i'm new to gardening)

we have a small London zone 2 garden. it was concrete when we moved in and we worked VERY hard last year to turn it into a small square lawn bordered on two sides by narrow (2') borders.

ive realised I have no idea how often to water! if something wilts then yes obviously, but I mean watering for maximum health and growth

if it doesnt rain, after how many days do I need to water? how much? how often?!

it's been dry for a good week here and the lawn is alredy yellowing...

any advice greatfully received (I feel quite a fool for needing to ask!)

 

Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    depends what you're growing jack. I never water the garden except for newly planted things. I don't grow anything that can't cope with that.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Hello!  It'd help if you could tell us a bit more about what you did in order to make the lawn & borders - e.g. is there rubble or something not far beneath them & if so,  how deep is the soil?  Did you just use what "turned up"(!) or did you use some new topsoil and/or compost?  All these things have an effect on how much moisture the ground will hold.  Is it shaded or sunny?  Would you describe the soil as sandy or clayey?  Did you use turf or did you seed the lawn?  Is it sloping or level?  Any new lawn probably needs some extra watering to help it get properly established.  A good soaking once every ten days or so is probably better than just sprinkling more often than that.  As far as border plants are concerned, it can depend a bit on how big a hole you made to plant into, and whether or not you back-filled it with good compost (which would retain water well) or whether you just used what you'd dug out in the first place.  Any newly planted stuff needs some watering in order to help it grow properly - once plants are established there's less need to do that, unless we get a prolonged heatwave!

    I know all that sounds a bit OTT - but there are so many factors which can affect moisture retention. One idea might be to dig down a little bit to see if the subsoil seems at all damp - it'd probably be a bit darker in colour than the soil on the surface. 

    Hope this helps a bit - perhaps other people will add their thoughts too.

  • jackthecatjackthecat Posts: 29

    I have been terrible at come back to this, I do apologise.

    The reason why I asked the question was because some things were just doing really badly, and I couldnt think of why. I've satisfied myself it's not water though, as there are plants, even of the same species, inches away which are doing fine.

    The exception is the lawn in patches, but I think that the soil is relatively poor and thin, so I've been selectively watering and it looks better.

    Thanks anyway for the advice.

     

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