Tales from Titchmarsh

Feeling guilty about watering? Alan offers tips on how, what and when to water, to ensure we use this precious resource wisely Watering a lawn is wasteful. Although it’s often the first thing to suffer in a drought, as soon as a shower comes it will green

“When do I water it?” This is a question that’s often asked by those new to gardening (or unaccustomed to looking after anything living in a pot). The answer is usually, “When it’s dry”, but the more accurate answer would be, “Just before it gets dry”, which is not quite as easy to explain.

This April and May were a real challenge in the garden – a mixture of scorching sunshine, strong winds, a late frost and precious little rain. Anyone with reasonably free-draining soil would have found themselves faced with that quandary: to water or not to water? A good many years ago now, when I put this question to a head gardener at one of the country’s leading stately homes, he boasted that he never watered. “The plants have to find it themselves,” he said. End of.

That’s all very well, but some plants have very shallow root systems and if left to “find it themselves” when no rain is forthcoming, they simply wilt and turn crisp in a matter of weeks. With many border perennials, the signs are clear: the foliage begins to droop, the lower leaves start to brown and the desiccation progresses up the stem until the plant shuts down altogether.

In my own garden, the worst culprits are phlox, rudbeckias, astrantias and some varieties of hardy geranium (stalwarts in the main) such as ‘Wargrave Pink’. I simply cannot tell them to find their own water supply. Their roots are too shallow. So

I trundle round with cans of water, giving each and every one a darned good soak as soon as their leaves start to point earthwards.

In extreme circumstances I will turn on a sprinkler, but that can cause problems. By early summer, plants have put on a lot of growth and although the water will eventually trickle down to the soil, it initially lands on the foliage, often causing stems to buckle under the weight. It’s a real pain.

Ideally, I should install an irrigation system based on ‘leaky pipes’. This involves snaking a black, spongy soaker-hose through borders when the plants are dormant, so it’s hidden from view as soon as growth starts. With this system, the water goes directly to where it’s needed – the roots. And with one of those minicomputers attached to the tap, the water can be meted out at timed intervals, giving the plants what they crave – an even water supply with no sudden droughts. Just as long as there’s no hosepipe ban.

I have adopted this system in our garden on the Isle of Wight and it has been its saviour in spells when – such as during lockdown – we’ve not been able to get there for weeks on end. If you have neither the energy nor the inclination to lug hefty watering cans around, and you resent wasting water (as you should) by using a sprinkler willy-nilly, then this system is for you.

And while we’re on the subject, why do those oscillating sprinklers only work for a single season? I suspect that, rather like mobile phones, they’re programmed to go wrong after a limited period, so you have to buy a new one. I’ve taken to writing the year of purchase on mine.

I don’t know why – it only added to my frustration when the one marked ‘2018’ refused to oscillate at all this year and instead just pointed its fan of water in one direction. Grrrr!

Still, I do feel guilty when I use sprinklers, although not on the veg patches, where they’re vital. Fruit and vegetables need an even supply of water if they’re to mature steadily and produce tender crops. Allowed to dry out, vegetables stop growing and the likes of radishes turn hard and woody. So I prioritise watering vegetables and soft fruit (not older fruit trees, which can most certainly seek out their own supply), shallow-rooted border perennials, plus anything and everything in pots (obviously)

– but never the lawn.

Watering a lawn is pointless and wasteful. Grass has shallow roots and is often the first thing to show stress in a drought. But the resting buds of grasses are tremendously resilient, so as soon as a shower of rain comes, the lawn will green up and recover.

It is anti-social and wasteful to use water resources on your green sward.

So that’s the long and the short of it really. I’m looking forward to a lovely summer, but a good shower or two at night would be really welcome, thank you very much.