Watering Your Garden: Best Practices for Healthy Plants

Step 1: Overhead Watering Timing

If watering annuals from overhead, do it early enough that foliage dries before nightfall. A hose attachment with a gentle spray works well. Continue reading

Step 2: Efficient Irrigation

Drip tubing and soaker hoses use water more efficiently than sprinklers, ideal for rows or blocks.

Plants dislike cold water, especially seedlings and potted plants with limited soil to buffer temperature shock. Always use cool or tepid water—never icy.

Check new transplants daily in hot, sunny, windy conditions. They need evenly moist (not soggy) soil. When planting peat pots directly, ensure no pot rim protrudes above soil, or it will wick moisture away.

If using a watering can, turn the rose upward to minimize soil disturbance. Water thoroughly so moisture soaks deep to roots—surface wetting is worse than no water at all.