During the warmer months of the year, watering our gardens is one of the most important daily tasks to keep it alive and thriving.
But it’s often difficult to know exactly when you should be watering your flowers, trees and shrubs, and how often you should be doing so.
In summer, the last thing you want is to kill any greenery from watering either too little or too much.
Well, gardening hero Alan Titchmarsh has shared his expert advice when it comes to giving your garden a good drink, including how you can use water resourcefully.
Fruit and veg you can grow in different months of the year
Is it better to water the garden, morning or evening?
In a video on his new YouTube channel, Alan recommends generally watering your garden “early in the morning or in the evening” at around 6pm.
The Love Your Garden host continues: “Because then the water will go into action and evaporate less rapidly than it would in hot noonday sun.”
But he warns that this is just a guide and not to water your garden “according to the calendar”, for example, regularly or every single day.
Alan advises: “If it’s been pouring down and if it’s cool, the water will be lost from the soil much more slowly than on a hot, dry day, when with containers in particular on really hot summer days, you may be watering both morning and evening. Use your common sense, not the clock.
“As a general rule of thumb, it’s good to make plants search out their own water supply, particularly in beds and borders, but you’ll notice the moment comes where they are starting to wilt, they are starting to be under stress, and that’s the time to act. Ideally, obviously, before that.”
The Ground Force legend continues: “How can you tell when they are going to need water? Look at the soil. Don’t just look at the soil, but feel and examine the soil.
“If you look at a border and it looks dry on top, it may still be moist underneath. Get your trowel out, just dig down a couple of inches.
“If soil looks like a freshly rung out flannel and feels damp, it’s got enough water in it.”
What is the correct way to water plants?
Alan shares it’s best to water your plants close to the roots at the base (on top of the soil) because that’s where it’s “needed the most”.
Which plants in your garden need watering the most? (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto) His top tip is to water established plants that have been in the garden for a few years, less regularly, and unless they are really dry.
This is so the roots can learn to go in search of the water and not get used to water at the surface.
It’s important to avoid only watering the leaves and flowers because it will evaporate “before it goes where it’s needed”.
Recommended reading:
How can we use water more efficiently in the garden?
If you are wondering how you can use water in your garden more efficiently by not using a hosepipe all the time, Alan said: “It’s really important that we don’t waste water and use it in the right way, because if we don’t, you can do more harm than good.
“Do install as many water butts as you possibly can on your downpipes, they’ll capture the rainfall and you can use that to water your plants.”
He adds: “Don’t waste water on the lawn, the grass is the first thing to suffer in the drought because it has shallow roots, but it’s also the first thing to recover in the shower of rain.”