20170626B Clipartix.comTrue enough, everybody wants a nice green garden, but there is no need to waste water by watering excessively either.

You have no idea how many people think that watering every single day is the only way to have delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers! Yet a thorough watering once a week is usually amply enough for most vegetable beds, flower gardens and lawns, although sometimes container plants may need to be watered more often.

Back to Basics

There is an age-old technique you can use to determine when to water. It’s so old that it undoubtedly dates back to when the first humans grew a plant some 12,000 years ago! Yet it works just as well today as it did then.

And here it is:

20170626ASimply stick your index finger into the soil to the second joint and feel the soil.

If the soil feels dry to the touch and there is no rain on the horizon, water abundantly for at least a few minutes to ensure that the soil is moist deep down and not just on the surface. Repeat the test in about a week to see if watering is needed again.

If the soil is still feels moist to the touch, wait a day or two, then repeat the test, only watering when it does feel dry.

Sometimes gardening is just sooo easy!

Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career. Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.

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