American Yard Service & Irrigation - New Plant Care
Use this as a guide only - heat, humidity and soil/site conditions need to be taken into consideration. Please use your own judgment as to how much water your plants need. Extremely hot or windy days will dry your plants out very quickly.
Your new plants need deep thorough waterings to help establish their root system. For the first three weeks after your plants are installed, it is important to follow these guidelines to help establish their root system. Water is the key to keeping your plants healthy and beautiful.
How to water your new plants:
- Turn your garden hose on half way so as not to erode the dirt and mulch away with high pressure. DO NOT use any type of nozzle on the hose.
- Hold the hose near the trunk of the tree or the center of a shrub.
- Water your large trees first (This allows water to soak in to their larger root balls). Remember that larger trees can have as much as 2 feet root balls below the ground.
- Water small shrubs next, taking into consideration the size of the plant.
- Return to your large trees and water again.
If the area around your plant is soft or mushy, to the point where your feet are sinking, DO NOT water your plant that day. Check your plant the next day to see if it needs to be watered. Too much water will restrict oxygen to the plants root system causing the plant to "drown". Plants that are over watered tend to lose leaves from the center of the plant first. Under watered plants tend to lose leaves from the outside of the plant first and their leaves start to get brown and dry from the edges of the leaves inward. If you are unsure if your plant is over or under watered, pull back the mulch around the plant and gently push your fingers into the ground to check if the dirt is moist or dry. It should be fairly moist but not muddy.
DO NOT skip waterings because it is forecasted to rain the next day, or if it rained over night. Sometimes rain fall does not have a chance to soak into the ground to give a deep soaking.
Watering Schedule:
1st Week: Once Per Day
2nd Week: Every Other Day
3rd Week: 2 to 3 times per week
Thereafter: 1 to 2 times per week as needed.
This is only a guide - you will still need to check your plants to see if they need more or less water.
If you have a separate shrub zone with your sprinkler system, your shrub zones should be set for 15 minutes per zone, three times per week. After two weeks you will need to re-program each shrub zone to five to seven minutes per zone, twice per week. It is still important to check your new plantings each day to insure adequate watering from your irrigation system. Typically, irrigation system are designed to water only the surface of the ground, not to deep water as needed for newly planted shrubs and trees.
