Watering
A week away in July is long enough to lose every container on the porch and set back anything planted this year. This is the small, unglamorous job that saves a lot of plants — and it is where I started.
How I Water
A light daily sprinkle keeps roots up near the surface where the soil dries out first, which makes a plant less able to cope every year. A long, slow soak two or three times a week pushes roots down instead. So watering goes on at the base of the plant rather than over the leaves, and it goes on long enough to actually reach the root ball rather than darkening the top inch of mulch. Containers are the exception to all of it — a hanging basket in full sun genuinely does need checking every day in July, and it is the first thing lost when nobody is home.
I use the outside faucet and whatever hose or watering can you already have. Nothing to set up and nothing to rent.
I text you when I have been by, and let you know if something looks wrong — wilting that water is not fixing usually means a different problem.
Anything put in this season has a root ball barely bigger than the pot it arrived in. Consistent water through the first summer is most of what decides whether it establishes.
When People Book This
The most common reason people call. Set the days before you go and everything gets watered while you are gone.
The fastest thing in any garden to die. Small soil volume, full sun, and often needing water every single day at the height of summer.
New shrubs, perennials and trees through their establishing summer, when the roots have not yet reached out into the surrounding soil.
Tomatoes and squash want steady, even moisture — irregular watering is what splits fruit and causes blossom end rot.
Two or three rainless weeks in midsummer is normal here, and it is when established plants quietly go backwards without ever looking dramatic about it.
Some people simply do not want to be hauling a hose around the yard in July. That is a perfectly good reason to book it.
What Happens
You show me what needs water, what does not, and where the faucet is. Succulents and established shrubs mostly want leaving alone, and overwatering kills as reliably as drought does.
Two or three visits a week suits most yards. Daily if it is containers in high summer. We set it before you leave, so nothing depends on reaching you.
Long enough to soak in rather than run off, at the root rather than over the foliage, and early in the day where I can.
Confirmation each time I have been by, and a heads-up if anything looks like it has a problem that water will not solve.
Questions
Two or three times a week suits most yards in summer. Containers and hanging baskets in full sun often need daily attention in July and August. We work it out from what you actually have.
I check the forecast before coming and I check the soil when I get there. A brief shower often wets the mulch and never reaches the roots, so rain does not automatically mean skipping — but a real soaking does, and I will not water for the sake of it.
Yes — your outside faucet and whatever hose or watering can you already have. Just leave the faucet turned on and reachable.
No. I water; I do not apply fertilizer, feed or any other treatment. If you leave out something you already use and want it applied, that is a conversation, but it is not part of the service.
As soon as you know your dates, especially for July and August. Call or text and we will get it on the calendar.
Get Started
Call or text with your dates and we will work out what needs watering before you go.
