Just the other day before a storm came in I was looking out from a second story window and noticed Sprinklers running. 

Oops!

One of the things i have noticed over the years as people moved from watering lawns and shrubs with hoses and hand sprinklers to sprinkler systems to automatic systems is the massive increase in over watering.

Back in the good old days the problem was getting people to put enough water on the ground to get the entire plant root system moist. Now days it is getting people to give the roots time to breath between waterings. 

Most of us know about rain switches on our timers. Many of don't use them. I am constantly going out to peoples gardens and seeing that they are still watering once or twice a week. I installed a new sod lawn in the fall. I have needed to water it ONCE since. 

I watered the complete system once this winter. The only exception to this is those plants that are protected from the rains. This includes plants under eaves and under evergreen trees often. Those you need to keep an eye on occasionall. As the plants start to show new growth I will start watering weekly and progress from there. Established shrubs and trees generally do not need water more than weekly. Lawns two to three times a week in hot weather. 

People talk about reducing water use in our gardens. The easiest thing to do is to only water when your garden needs water.

I think that the automatic systems have made us all unaware of what is actually going on in the garden. I encourage everyone to get out and just look around your garden and keep in touch with your plants. 

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