COOL WEATHER IRRIGATION

Friday, 25th May, 2012, overcast, cool, a bit windy. Watering plants during cool, cloudy weather, the kind we are now having, especially near or on the coast, is very effective. The earth will hold the water longer than in dry, hot weather, thusly enabling the plant to absorb more water and hydrate its plant tissues. Also, if you add fertilizer to your plants, in situ or in pots, the plants will have more time and moisture to absorb the nutriments, slowly and more gently. Fertilizing plants on a hot day is like giving them a double shot of coffee. It hits the plant's tissues hard and could cause burning to the roots and leaves. They get wired so to speak. So, spend some time watering the plants in this cool weather. Just because the plants are alive doesn't mean that they can't be helped by deep gentle waterings which will last longer and benefit the plants longer. When we water slowly, "drop upon slow drop" as I heard one intelligent woman gardener say, we waste less water, do the plants "lots of good,"  and have time to observe what's happening in the garden. When I do this slow watering, (sometimes I let the hose drip very, very, very slowly over night at the plant's base), I can actually see the plant leaves becoming turgid and alive looking. It's as though the plant has awakened, and actually it has; the way plants awaken after a Spring rain. And don't forget that roots are not the only plant tissues that absorb water.
   Actually plants absorb water through the atmosphere. That is why my Spanish Moss and airplants flourish. They get their pores cleansed, the stoma, and they get the filthy pollutants and chemicals washed off their leaves, and of course their plant tissues suck in tremendous amounts of water. The plants become upright, I would say attentive, because they have water in their tissues.
   The only thing that bothers me about watering is that we live in a clime of very few rains. Almost everything survives and grows at the end of a hose. I've heard all the chatter about drought resistant plants, and there is something to that. However most drought resistant plants look exactly like our chaparal clothed hills.
   The inflated, water-drought-resistant-plant-types have gone too far. If all gardeners would water effectively and be careful about that vital life "juice" allowed to run right off the lawns into the gutters and drains, a varied plant garden would be possible. I installed a special valve at our bath-shower head to drain that pre-hot, water, cold water, out side to a holding tank. We waste one and a half gallons of water before the hot water comes out! Every time we take a shower!  That does add up in a year. You can buy the valve at Home-Depot for about 7 dollars, and it's easy to set up. If you have any questions, let me know.Also, developers put in mile after mile of trees and ground cover, all of which needs, you got it, water! Look at the new developments and you will see nice, lush, verges of trees and ground cover. And, I mean verges of 50, 60, 70 feet wide. Being a believer in Balance, I think that a great amount of water could be saved if we gardeners learned how to water our plants effectively. It's not that we want to be too cheap with water; we want to water effectively.
I was once told by a bonsai master, a real one in Japan, that it takes a very long time to learn how to water bonsai, and bonsai being a microcosm of the world at large are a fitting example for learning how to water our gardens effectively.