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nancy6 Warner Robins, GA(Zone 8b) Aug 05, 2008

Hi I am new to daves but have been reading dis. for months I am from up North and my hus. and I landscaped our yard that way. We put in over 25 plants,trees,ect. needless to say I learned a hugh lesson. although I have been in the yard for 3 months I love it and we have only lost 1 tree. So thats where I am at in Warner Robbins GA. hope you all can help thanx Nancy

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DaleTheGardener Tampa, FL(Zone 10a) Aug 05, 2008

What do you need help with?

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nancy6 Warner Robins, GA(Zone 8b) Aug 05, 2008

first I need to know how much and how often to water with new drip system. Kind of hard when I put in everything from palms to maples

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DaleTheGardener Tampa, FL(Zone 10a) Aug 05, 2008

Not easy to answer that question.

Rule of thumb, if it is wilting it needs water.

You might want to consider hand water for those plants that wilt quickly. Drip systems should be run about once a week if there is no rain or if the rain is light. Overwatering can be a problem for some plants, but, as new as everything is - every other day with the drip should not create problems. Then cut back to once a week about 2 months after the the original planting date.

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nancy6 Warner Robins, GA(Zone 8b) Aug 05, 2008

thanx Dale thats what I have been doing I will have to continue to wing it till fall I guess

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DaleTheGardener Tampa, FL(Zone 10a) Aug 05, 2008

Sounds like you are doing fine, best of luck to you on your new project.

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Aug 05, 2008

I prefer the "finger test" to check for whether you need to water, particularly if you have clay soil (if you have sandy soil, then the water typically drains fast enough that you can probably just go on wilting as a signal). When plants are established, then when they wilt it generally does mean they need water, but it sounds like you planted some things fairly recently, and things that aren't established yet often don't have enough of a root system to take up water fast enough to prevent them from wilting on a hot day, even if there's actually plenty of moisture in the soil. So when that happens, if you give them more water you can end up overwatering them. So you can still look for wilting as a sign, but before you water them I'd test by sticking your finger a few inches down into the soil--if it's drying out then it's time to water, but if it still feels wet then I'd hold off.

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