Since I love plants and I want to conserve water, I am faced with this dilemma every year. So how do I decide what to save and what to let go to mother nature?
1st Priority
Newly planted trees, shrubs, perennials and lawns need adequate water, about 1 inch every week — until they are established, usually two or three years.
2nd Priority
- Vegetables and other food crops
- Annual floral displays and containers.
Foods crops and annual floral displays can be watered every week to 10 days in normal weather patterns. Container need daily or 2x a day watering.
3rd Priority
- Established lawns can go six weeks or more without water. Lawns go dormant and will revive with rainfall or watering.
- Many perennials will survive a few weeks without water.
- Well-established shrubs and trees can go a couple of months.
Do you want to learn more about plant survival? Surviving the drought: How plants survive the drought
