How often to water is too variable by climate, soil/soiless mix type, whether mulch is used etc. to really answer. It is absolutely not necessary to keep all the soil moist. You say after a day of sun and wind only the top inch is dry? That's fine. Try stopping the sprinklers for awhile and figure out how many days it takes for the soil to dry to 2 inches. For established plants (any plant that has been in the bed for more than 2 weeks after transplant or 1 month or less from seed sprouting if direct sowed) I would advise allowing 2 inches of a light mix to dry before thinking about watering. If you notice any plants starting to droop a bit you can increase the frequency, but generally allowing the top couple inches to dry does plants good as they go deeper in the soil for moisture and this not only saves you water, but it makes for more adaptable plants to when the real heat comes on in a couple months. It reduces weeds a bit and is less comfortable for slugs, snails, earwigs and other moisture loving garden pests.

That PLs are usually found in riparian settings (streamside or in boggy environments) where they naturally occur is absolutely no cause to believe they will do well in boggy soils. They adapt well to various types of water culture, and perform very well in fast-draining, well-aerated soils, but should be expected to perform poorly when asked to make the transition in soils from lengthy periods of significant saturation to times when the soil has dried down and become reasonably well-aerated and more hospitable to the plant. The reason, as has been pointed out, is the fact that the plant will grow roots structured to allow the plant to deal with one or the other set of conditions, but not both in a cycle that starts with a long period of saturation transitioning to the more appropriate moist (rather than wet or soggy) medium. How well a soil drains is determined almost exclusively by the size of the particles it is comprised of. While the arrangement you have with the pot sitting above the effluent in the collection saucer is commendable, it has no impact on how well the soil drains or its level of aeration. 1. How often should I water? Intervals will vary with season, light load, amount of air movement, ....... Unless you use a soil that allows watering on a schedule as opposed to on an 'as needed' basis, and yours doesn't, you should absolutely stick to watering only when the plant gets dry to the point it needs water. In fact, in spite of the stress it would create, it would actually be better if you waited for this plant to exhibit signs of the first stage of wilt before you water than to water before the plant need it. I'm not advocating using drought stress indicators to signal the plants need for water - just trying to establish a feel for the idea that a little under-watering is less limiting than over-watering. For this plant, marking your watering date on the calendar and OCCASIONALLY waiting for the first signs of wilt to establish appropriate intervals between waterings is a reasonable strategy. If you'd rather, buy a wooden birch dowel rod (1/4 or 5/16") from a hardware or big box store. Cut into appropriate length pieces for your plants, sharpen the ends with a pencil sharpener, and use the pieces stuck deep into the pot as 'tells' that will let you know the moisture conditions deep in the pot. If they come out wet or stained dark from wet soil, withhold water until they come out clean. MUCH better than "watering gauges/meters". 2. What else can I do for this plant? The answer to that could easily fill a book. You could try reading this (click on link). I read someplace that liquid fertilizer once a month is good too. Yay or nay on that? To be meaningful, any advice regarding frequency of fertilizer applications has to take into consideration your soil choice and watering habits. For example, if you water in small sips to avoid your MG soil remaining soggy too long, a one month interval at the regular rate is an automatic problem for more than one reason, and the type of fertilizer as well as its NPK %s both play a part in determining the criticality of the issue. If you're using a soil that allows you to water at will w/o the need to fear consequences centering on the fact the soil will be saturated for a length of time measured in weeks, you can actually fertilize at low doses every time you water, which is how I choose to fertilize all my plants during the winter. One type of soil (those that are very water-retentive, like yours) make it almost impossible to maintain control over effective nutritional supplementation; other types of soil that support little or no saturation make establishing and maintaining a sound supplementation program monkey easy. Al

I've given up on lavender in the ground. I now grow it in a large clay pot that I can move back under the porch roof if we're having a particularly rainy season and control the water it receives. I used to have one growing in the ground, at my old house, and it sulked and did nothing for 3 years until we had a summer of drought (summer of 2007 in central North Carolina) and it took off and flourished. Lesson learned. I only water the lavender in the pot occasionally. Even after first planting it, it didn't get daily watering. I kept an eye on it and only watered it when it showed signs of wilting.

That having been said, for overseeding, you're going to have to water more often to get the seed to sprout. Seed that dries out is seed that dies. Regrettably, lawns that stay wet are lawns that get fungal diseases. You see the problem here. For seed, it will need to be watered about three times a day (even if under most coverings) to keep it appropriately damp. Underneath compost, that may be less often, but more water--depending on the compost, of course. Two would be the floor number. One is not going to be acceptable under most conditions, but there are certainly some exceptions. For how long that's required depends on the seed. In good conditions, rye usually sprouts in a week or so. Fescue, 10 days to 2 weeks. Kentucky bluegrass can be up to a month. Since you're talking about fall seeding, you've implied you have a transitional lawn and use northern grasses. Southern grasses will differ and are not generally fall sown. Of course, that can be even longer if the temperatures are particularly hot or particularly cold, and the clock also stops if the seed goes dry (this will also quickly kill germinating seed, as mentioned above). Post all that, cut back the watering slowly to let the new baby roots grow in, and let your adult lawn grow in roots it hasn't had to grow yet. Cut back to daily watering, then every other day in a week or so, every third day a week after that, and so on. See if it'll handle weekly watering the next year. Some lawns will, some won't. It does depend on your soil, the organic matter levels (OM hold water like nobody's business, it's like a sponge), and the lawn. I haven't watered since 2017 and mine looks good. Right now, we're 12 days with no rain and it's just starting to look dry in places, but my soil is tuned well for resources, the organic levels are kept very high, I keep it on the long side (short northern grasses are thirsty northern grasses), don't cut when it's dry (bleeding grass is grass that's losing water), and have bluegrass (one of the least drought-resistant grasses, actually, but it'll just go dormant if it does get droughty and come back when rains resume).