Guide to the effective do’s and don’ts of hand watering your garden

The do’s of hand watering your garden

First, we will discuss the do’s of watering your garden to keep it green for a long time.

1. Know your soil

Before hand-watering your garden, you must know the characteristics of your soil. It is best first to check the soil to avoid overwatering. There are different types of soils, and all of them have different water-holding capacities.

Sandy soils are light, and the water quickly drains from them, having a little water holding capacity. It will help if you water slowly for the sandy soil so that it evenly moisturizes your soil.

Whereas the clay soils can hold a high amount of water, they take a long time to dry up in winters. So before watering your soil randomly, you must look for the soil type and then water it.

2. Add organic matter

Organic matter is essential for the growth of your plants. It not only provides nutrition to the organisms living in the soil but also helps improve the water holding capacity of the soil. Organic matter binds the soil particles into aggregates and improves aeration.

The addition of organic matter improves the quality of all types of soil. It helps the plants to absorb the water more efficiently.

3. Invest in garden hose

Investing in an excellent watering hose is helpful as it will be convenient, saves time, and needs less effort. If your garden is large enough, then the gardening cans will make watering your garden a bit harder. So for that, a flexible water hose can easily water your garden.

Before investing in a garden hose, you must ensure that it is of good quality because the cheap garden hose leaves abrasion and cracks quickly. One of the features that you must look for while purchasing a garden hose is that it must be toxic-free. If you are growing food in your garden, the toxic garden hose may cause you severe health problems.

4. Water deeply

It is an essential point to take care of while hand watering your garden. Many people water their garden superficially or sometimes at one or two points. Unless you don’t water your garden deeply, it will not reach the roots. It is recommended to water the garden deeply and at a few intervals so that every part of the plant gets the required water amount.

Moreover, the well-watered plants have a wider and deeper root system that helps in healthy growth. Sometimes due to heavy soil, water creates a soil basin. The soil basin holds more water and helps in the percolation of water down the soil evenly.

5. Water your garden in the morning

The ideal time to water the garden is in the early morning, but if you couldn’t make it possible due to any reason, then water in the late afternoon. Watering your garden in the morning helps keep the soil moist throughout the day and prevents it from drying and heat stress. Secondly, in the morning, the evaporation is at its lowest, so there are fewer chances of drying up of water, and water can reach the deep soil as well.

In comparison, if you water your garden in the day, water evaporates quickly without getting into the deeper roots. Also, watering in the late afternoon keeps your plant moist throughout the night.

Are you a plant lover who is in search of how and when you should water your plants? Or you have already messed up with your plants and now looking out for some help. Whether you are new in gardening or a pro, you must know how essential is water for the plants.

Water is amongst the plant’s primary necessities required for the transport of nutrients across the plant, resulting in the plant’s healthier growth. Whereas on the other hand, if the water supply is inadequate, irrespective of how well you take care of your plant, it will not survive for a long time. So if you are interested in gardening, you must know the dos and don’ts of hand watering your garden.

The don’ts of hand watering your garden

We have so far discussed the practices that we should adopt while hand watering our garden. But then comes the don’ts that we should avoid at all cost; otherwise, it may spoil our garden. So, let’s discuss them.

1. Avoid water logging

Waterlogging is a serious problem that must be avoided. Otherwise, it may cause the death of the plant. The waterlogging expels the air from the soil resulting in the cell death of roots. It suppresses the oxygen supply to the root cell and prevents the carbon dioxide from diffusing away.

Waterlogging may be due to the rainfall, flooding, and overflowing of water. It increases the acidity of the plant that is harmful to some plants. Waterlogging may cause some severe consequences that may result in the death of the plants.

Moreover, it causes lower soil temperature, resulting in low biological activity and stunted growth of the plant. It also causes decay and some diseases in the plant.

2. Don’t water from overhead

Overhead watering does not seem useful and beneficial, especially when your plants are big enough that the foliage covers the plant’s base. If you are watering from the overhead and not using a hose, then there are chances that your plant will not receive a sufficient quantity of water. And only the leaves get wet with water.

3. Don’t water less or more than required

It is necessary to understand the required quantity of water by our plants. The majority don’t know how much of the water their plants need. Instead, we water all the plants in the same way irrespective of their kind. We need to understand that every plant is different from others, just like humans. And eventually, their water requirements are also different.

Some plants may have a well-developed root system, requiring more water, whereas the newer plants may need less water. So, you can look deeper into your plant’s needs by checking the moisture of the soil. If the soil is already wet, then you don’t need to overwater it as it may cause waterlogging. But if it is dry, you should water it more frequently.

4. Don’t use sprinklers

Sprinklers are widely used for gardening purposes, but you should avoid them. The disadvantage of using sprinklers to water your plants is that it does not fulfil its job. Most of the water evaporates even before reaching the ground. Secondly, the sprinkler causes more water loss than watering with the hose.

Sprinklers spray a large amount of water without adequately wetting the soil. Mostly the water remains on the foliage and does not reach the soil. Moreover, you can not entirely rely on these sprinklers to distribute the water properly in the soil.

5. Avoid just wetting the surface

A common practice that we observe for a long time is that people place a finger on the hose to spray water at a more considerable distance even if they are using a water hose. If you are among such gardeners who follow this practice or use some spraying nozzles, then you are not watering your garden; instead, you are just wetting it.

Nothing is worse than watering your plants lightly as you are satisfied that you water your garden daily, but the water does not reach the roots in actuality. And eventually, when your plant dies, you wonder why this happened. It happened because of your negligence, as you were watering it without noticing whether it reaches the soil or not. It results in shallow root growth and the death of the plant. Proper hand watering is the flooding your plants to the extent that water reaches the bottom soil.

Conclusion

The gardening experts regularly practice and advise all these points as mentioned above. If you are willing to take better care of your garden, you must practice these points; otherwise, your plant will suffer from your lousy watering techniques. Happy gardening!

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