Saturday 8-22-09 *Closed Due to Rain*

The rain sucks for business but is a blessing for our inventory. It's also a blessing for your landscape. Conserve water by adding rain barrels to your gutter system. They collect rain water that would otherwise likely end up in storm drains. Soaker hoses can be added to the barrels so you can slowly discharge the water into your landscape and subsequently into underground aquifers. Bonus for you AND our dwindling water supplies! Learn more on rain barrels.

Watering in August

Watering is the single most important factor in a healthy landscape. Water travels to the roots of plants picking up nutrients along the way. Without water, plants languish and become drastically stressed, resulting in disease and insect infestation.

Soaker Hoses 

The best, most cost effective way to water is to set up soaker hoses in your landscape beds. Running these soft, spongy hoses around the root zone of each plant (double looping for larger plants) is effective at slowly soaking the soil while minimizing water run off and evaporation.

Duration

Water for around an hour a day during hot stretches in the summer depending on your soil. Heavy clay soils tend to hold moisture longer than sandy ones, so judge accordingly. Make sure to run a six foot section of regular garden hose from your spigot to the soaker, as installing a soaker hose directly to the spigot can cause water to get dangerously close to the foundation.

Timers

Automatic timers are also available for soaker hose systems. This model is available from Hope Depot online. http://tinyurl.com/nzgska 

Making Life Easier


Before setting up the soaker hoses, unravel them (make sure the washers don't come out; they are important), stretch the hoses with a partner to release any "memory". This makes laying them much easier.

You may need to pin the soakers in place. Coat hangers or thick wire (utility markout flags are ideal) are great for holding the hose in place as your winding them through your beds.

Slopes
Water pressure decreases with distance and elevation. Make sure to account for these factors as a single spigot probably wont have the pressure to make it a great distance.

This Variegated Dwarf Weigela has been a solid seller for us. And it's pretty easy to see why. Bright yellow leaf margins couple with sporadic pink and white blooms through summer. Ideal for well drained soils.

Welcome

Snapped this photo this morning while getting ready to open. It pretty much sums up what we try and do here: Great Plants

Welcome to our blog. 

(PS, that's a Horse Chestnut [Aesculus parviflora])