New landscaping, how much to water?

4 years ago

Hi everyone,

I recently had a landscape architect install a large number of plants on about 8,000 sq feet of hillside at my house. I had my lawn irrigation system added to so that sprinklers would cover the hill from both the top and bottom of the hill. The plants that were installed include:

1) Live oaks, 2" caliper

2) Magnolia, Brackens Brown Beauty

3) Forest Pansy Redbud, ~ 1-2" caliper

4) Hydrangea Limelight

5) Tea Olives, appx. 1 gallon

6) Winter Honeysuckle, appx. 3 gallon

7) Viburnum Macrocephalum, appx. 1 gallon

8) Driftroses

Our landscaper recommended we run the sprinkler system on the hillside for 20 minutes twice a day for the first 2 weeks after installation. After that, he recommended once daily for 30 minutes for 2 more weeks. Then 2-3 times per week for 20-30 minutes.

Since we invested a lot of money in this, I want to be sure we are watering properly. We are in zone 7b-8a. Our soil is clay.

Does anyone have any advice to be sure we are not under or over-watering our plants? Are the instructions we got from our landscaper adequate? Hauling around a drip hose does not seem like a very practical option based on the sheer size of the landscaped area.

Thanks for any input or advice!

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Comments (4)

posierosie_zone7a
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I think I would trust your landscaper especially given that they work in your area and hopefully have experience with watering schedules. For the first few weeks, the plants need plenty of water to help them recover. I don't know your area but it's super hot here in zone 7a and I would keep anything just planted well watered as transplanting in this heat can be brutal.

If anything, the plants might get slightly over watered (2x per day in clay), but I would need to actually climb up your hill and test the soil by digging down a few inches and feeling how moist the ground is before each watering to get a sense of how well your soil is retaining water. I would also need to observe the plants and look for signs of stress. Obviously, I can't do that and neither will your landscape designer so s/he gave you a prescribed schedule.

The p!ants listed sound like workhorses that will provide color and likely dig into that hill and thrive over time once established. You might want to inquire next year once everything has a root system if it might be better to water less often but for longer.
Embothrium
4 years ago
In reality the optimal setting will vary with the weather there and other factors - nobody here will ever be able to tell you the perfect combination for your entire summer on your site. And for ensuing summers. The involved landscape contractor might have background that enabled them to be in the ballpark with what he said to do or he might not - the first thing I notice is the change after a mere two weeks. No new planting of woody material in July is going to have done anything in so short a short period of time to make markedly less dependent on liberal watering. And on the other hand if you are in a rainy summer eastern North American climate and you get a period at some point this summer where it just dumps rain then having your automatic system come on and soak the planting in addition to this might not only be pointless but even detrimental.

So what really needs to happen is that you make frequent site inspections yourself, see how things are going. And make adjustments (or have a contractor modify the system) if and when these are needed. Pay particular attention to conditions within the original soil masses the plants came with as well as what is going on inside the planting holes. Since the site has a clay soil and there is an automatic system involved if you have any periods of heavy rain it may be necessary to dig down next to some of the plants and check for water collecting in the bottoms of their planting holes. Especially if there was any amending of planting hole backfill involved. Digging down a few inches will not of course reveal what may be taking place at deeper levels.
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Sounds like they don't need it at all. Keep in mind that plants - even transplants will tolerate too little water better than too much. Let things dry a bit so the roots will be inclined to go exploring into their new environment. ;) Dave
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Depends upon what sort of 'nasty clay soil' you have, for one thing. I have hard red clay soil and love it. New transplants, which we would not Plant at this time of year by the way, would probably be watered at the root ball every day for a couple of weeks, then tapering off gradually. Our clay, though dense, drains well. Clay soil that is almost any color except red or orange might need some real work before a planting project can be successful. Soil amendments should not be added, pretty much regardless of what kind of native soil you have, so that's a good thing. Adding those amendments to the hole and backfill creates all kinds of problems. Watering frequency also depends upon whether the plants were container grown plants or B&B. Containerized plants need a LOT more attention upon transplanting than those that are field dug. There's about a billions times the root surface area to take care of. Are you getting any rain there? That can make a big difference in how much you need to jump in and hand water. Did the person who planted the trees install a berm around the root ball of the trees upon planting? If so, you could simply fill that berm every day for a couple of weeks. The water will be concentrated on the root ball itself, which is what you want initially. Later on, you can water a larger area, for a longer period of time, but your goal should be to wean the tree off extra watering in a few months time. By the way, don't count on your irrigation system to do this watering for you. If you water as much and as frequently as your trees need it, your grass will suffer terribly.
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They look very healthy! And, it looks like they get some shade, hopefully in the afternoon. Both the abies and the pungens can go full range, but I think that they, as well as ALL plants, appreciate a little shade, especially in the afternoon. If you really don't trust yourself with the watering, I would call the installer/arborist and see what he suggests now since they've been in the ground for just over a month. I would think that four to five gallons of water on each one, once a week, would be sufficient. Of course you would need to cut this amount back based on how much rain you might get, and how much your drip system puts out. I think that one deep soaking, just once a week, would be best for proper root development. Since you have the drip set up, I would turn it for three to four hours once a week. Of course, this is again dependant on how much water your system puts out?? Afterwards, stick a wooden dowel rod in the ground at least a foot for a few minutes and see how wet it is. It should be wet from top to bottom. Don't kill them with to much love. Good luck Conon
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There are a lot of variables, including how many gallons of water per minute are delivered, so it's a wild guess on our part. But my gut reaction is that there's no shortage of water for these plants. I think your best advice is going to come from the landscaper who put them in. More than likely, they're going to lean toward extra water as that will not be as dangerous as too little water for unestablished plants.
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User
4 years ago
Did somebody remove my post?
User
4 years ago
No, the OP double posted this thread. Your responses are in the other one.

New landscaping, how much to water?

Comments (4)

posierosie_zone7a

Embothrium

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