You are generally better off watering longer but less often. When you water small amounts very frequently, the lawn and garden stay wet on the surface nearly all the time, making an ideal environment for fungus problems. Plants also don't put down deep roots since they don't need to, so are more susceptible to drought stress if there is a gap in the watering, and if your sprinklers aren't completely uniform, you get patches that never get enough water. By watering less frequently, but with more water so it soaks down in, the surface will dry out and reduce fungus problems and the roots will go down deeper to follow the water. I water usually once a week, sometimes every 5 days during the hottest part of the summer when days are consistently in the 90's--it depends on when the grass starts to show water stress, but the water will reach a depth of 24 inches or more from each watering. My climate gets virtually no rainfall, so irrigation is all it gets. When we do get measurable rain in late spring, then I will space the watering out further, based on when the grass just starts to show some drouth stress. What I'm getting at is let the ground dry out to a depth as long as your middle finger or a little more, then give it a good watering, then let it dry to that depth before the next watering and set your timer to follow that schedule.

That all depends on your plants. There is no one "recipe" since the needs of a bog terr will be vastly different than that of one catering to plants from arid regions. Generally speaking -- for terrs w/ the more common/typical houseplants -- some condensation on the glass is okay, but if you are getting lots of water droplets condensing and running down the sides of the terr then you have things too wet. Open the terrarium to let some of it evaporate. Watering/misting may be done when the glass remains dry near the soil line (no condensation at all). If the surface soil is dry but still moist a little deeper down, you should still be fine water-wise. The goal w/ the major of plants people use is to keep the soil evenly moist -- not soggy. It should also be noted that one should have a very light hand when watering -- it is always easier to add more water later if needed than it is to remove excess water! If it comes to erring on the side of caution, most plants seem to be able to handle soil a little too dry than too wet.

- Is there an amount of water or number of times per week I should be watering the garden when we don't get rain? No, watering isn't something that can be scheduled or given a set number of times. You water only when the plants need it. They determine the need. The only guidelines are: - different plants need different amounts and frequency so it isn't a matter of watering the entire garden at the same time - you water deeply and less frequently rather than shallow and often - the need for water will change as the plants mature and as the weather changes - you water the base of the plants, not the leaves - most all new gardeners OVER water and kill plants as a result So as rhizo said, first you learn about the soil - how well it drains and how long it retains moisture. The only way to do that is to get your hands dirty deep in the soil. Second, you learn about the individual needs for each type of plant. Some prefer to dry out between watering, some require consistent soil moisture levels, some use a lot of water, some use very little, etc. Third, you learn to read the plants. Learn to recognize when the appearance of their stems and leaves are telling you they need water and when they do not. Dave

Definitely take Loves Trees' advice. Planting a tree this late in the year is pretty tough, and that's even mostly true for a native tree (which I'm pretty sure none of the Diospyros are). One additional thing I might change with the current setup is move the shade so it's shading the lower part and the ground of the tree rather than the upper. I think the goal with shade is the reduce the heat around the tree, not so much block light from the leaves, and I find the sun on the ground to be a huge heat source in the summer. This is something I'm trying for the first time this year on some of my new trees, but I've done similar things that have worked well: This was taken earlier in the year and now some of the leaves get sunlight for most of the time the shade is hitting the area, but the ground is shaded enough that it stays relatively cool. It provided more than 6 hours of sunlight to the area even when it completely shaded the tree. Just in case someone wants to make one, it's pretty easy. I just got 2 10' 1/2 pvc pipes for each side (4 total), glued them together with 1/2" pipe couplers, then stuck them in the ground with 1/2" rebar (all from home depot). I used pvc clamps to attach the shade cloth to the pvc. I used a cheap clothesline attached to 2 stakes and tied it across both pipes to stabilize it in the wind.