Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Your garden’s needs change in monsoon
The monsoon rains will look after most of your watering requirements in the garden. However, it is important to keep an eye on how much your garden is soaking up. Here are some tips which will help your garden to sail smoothly through the season, without the problems of excessive watering. * Adjust watering frequency according to rainfall. The day it rains, you can relax. But when it doesn’t, it’s time for you to step in.
* Only water those parts where the soil seems dry.
* In some places, especially containers, the soil may already be damp from the last rain. In that case, it can do without water.
* Do not water very deep, just enough to hold it good till the next day.
* Your indoor potted plants, too, need to be taken out occasionally, so as to let them imbibe some rainwater.
* Some plants may be blocked from the rain due to overhead ledges etc. Do not forget such plants, they need water even on a rainy day.
* Protect your cacti and succulents from direct and heavy rain, and water them just a little, since all the moisture in the air is enough for them to thrive.
* The best time to water is early morning when evaporation is the least.
* Cultivate the soil regularly between rains so that the soil surface doesn’t harden and let water run-off. Other issues
* If you live in a windy area, protect all your plants from the onslaught of rain and high winds, or else you’ll have torn and scrappy foliage to deal with.
* Some plants may need stakes to prop them up.
* Also, take a good look at your garden and see to it that it has good drainage, so that there is no collection of water in any patch of soil — this almost always leads to root-rot.
* To avoid water logging, try making some channels for the water to drain out. If that is not possible, periodically make mounds of earth around the roots of particularly susceptible plants, so that they are on higher ground.
* Ensure that all your pots, too, have good drainage. Dislodge any matter that may have blocked the drainage holes
* Only water those parts where the soil seems dry.
* In some places, especially containers, the soil may already be damp from the last rain. In that case, it can do without water.
* Do not water very deep, just enough to hold it good till the next day.
* Your indoor potted plants, too, need to be taken out occasionally, so as to let them imbibe some rainwater.
* Some plants may be blocked from the rain due to overhead ledges etc. Do not forget such plants, they need water even on a rainy day.
* Protect your cacti and succulents from direct and heavy rain, and water them just a little, since all the moisture in the air is enough for them to thrive.
* The best time to water is early morning when evaporation is the least.
* Cultivate the soil regularly between rains so that the soil surface doesn’t harden and let water run-off. Other issues
* If you live in a windy area, protect all your plants from the onslaught of rain and high winds, or else you’ll have torn and scrappy foliage to deal with.
* Some plants may need stakes to prop them up.
* Also, take a good look at your garden and see to it that it has good drainage, so that there is no collection of water in any patch of soil — this almost always leads to root-rot.
* To avoid water logging, try making some channels for the water to drain out. If that is not possible, periodically make mounds of earth around the roots of particularly susceptible plants, so that they are on higher ground.
* Ensure that all your pots, too, have good drainage. Dislodge any matter that may have blocked the drainage holes
# posted by mashup @ 11:08 PM 
