Kitchen Garden Forum

Can someone advise how often you should water a raised vegetable bed?

I have been told that I over watering them and am afraid I will water log them and they will not grow properly.

Hi Daisy, watering little and often is not good, it tends to stay on the surface, encourage shallow roots, and dry quickly in the sun. A good soak every now and then when needed is preferable as this will encourage roots to go down to the deeper layers for moisture. With experience you will get used to the plants needs. The RHS has good advice on watering and conserving water here -

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/pro ... px?PID=312

Hello. Thank you very much for the comment back. I will now change my routine to incorporate the below.

Also, thanks for the link as well. Very helpful.

Have a sunny day

You too, thank you Daisy, after a stormy night it is sunny here, already I have a long line of washing blowing on the line as the forecast says more rain later, after a long dry spell no need for watering today.

Hello again, how often should I be watering flowers and shrubs?

Hows the washing, dry i hope

Hi Daisyduke. With flowers and shrubs, it all depends...Silly answer, I know, but the plants we put in our gardens originate in all kinds of environments in the wild. Just one example: some irises grow in the margins of ponds and lakes, with their roots permanently in water, while other irises grown in relatively dry conditions. I think it comes with experience - as with vegetables, if there has been a period without rain and the soil is starting to get dried out, give everything a good soak. If you see the leaves on a particular plant going limp, that's a sign that it needs water urgently. Shrubs and trees are usually able to get their roots down deep and generally speaking don't need watering often (with the possible exception of fruit trees like apples and pears, which need enough moisture to swell the fruit). But newly planted trees and shrubs shuld be watered regularly in their first year, while they put out their new roots and get established.

Daisy

I agree with Ken and would add it also depends on your soil.
As an example we have heavy clay as our main soil but it seems to be over a layer of gorgeous friable stuff about 2 foot down. We had a clematis which was struggling for about 4 years needing watering all the time, but suddenly last year it took off and produced masses of growth and flowers. It did it again this year. I assume it had managed to build up enough root over the years to find the good stuff eventually.

MikA

hi daisy

I too have a heavy clay soil but 2 years of adding home made compost is making it a bit easier to manage, in a dry spell I will soak the veggies once a week to every two weeks depending on the heat a good tip is if you push your index finger into the soil up to your knuckle when you pull it back out to should be able to feel some moisture on your finger if you dont then its time to water, i do the same with my borders, hanging baskets every day and any veg that i have in grow bags or potatoe sack etc every other day.