what's your watering style?

pugznploons

I water most of my plants (especially containers) daily during the heat of the summer here in KS, but I never know if I water them long enough.  I usually just use the hose with a spray nozzle and spray them down until they soil looks nice and wet but not muddy, then I move on to other plants.  Should I be watering my flower beds or my vegetable garden for longer than say, 1 minute?  I know some people use sprinklers, but I thought that was mostly for watering the lawn, which we do not do.  

I forego watering when it rains of course.   

nitaw

We're erratic with the watering schedule. We water the lawn maybe a few times a week, so my flower beds get watered when the lawn gets watered. I water containers daily during the summer. I haven't watered my containers the past couple of days because we had a heavy rain this past weekend (think 3inches of rain over the weekend).

Sq ft garden, I water as needed. Again - I am not sure how often that is if it rains. Maybe every 2 days?

Oh - and my flower beds - I plant drought tolerant plants. Memphis gets crazy hot, so a fru-fru plant that needs a lot of care won't be in my flower beds. My beds get southwestern sun exposure, so I need hardy plants.

kastle

I make sure my plants get 1-2 in of water/wk in the veg garden.  I've got a rain gauge that helps me figure out when to water.

I hand water using my rain water in the spring/fall.  Generally, I empty a watering can over 4 sqft and then move on.  Then, I go back around and water everything again (the 1st watering has soaked in by this point).  Sometimes, I go around & water again.  I have a soaker hose I use for watering in the summer (rain barrel is usually dry then).  I just turn it on for about 20-40 minutes (depending on the needs of the plants). 

Typically, I water 2x/wk in the summer and 1x/wk or less in the spring/fall (due to rain).

I don't really water my flower beds unless it's in the middle of a summer drought.

kylara111

I water for 30 min. in the evening once a week.  Twice a week when its hot.  If it rains, I usually water anyway because heavy rain is mostly runoff and a slow rain is usually just not enough.  I water pots daily, and more often when its hot. 

Jeff & Em

I'm in a townhome and have to do a container garden, so I anticipate watering every day.  Our hose hookup is out back, so I'm planning on making a zillion trips with my watering can.  : )  Thankfully, I live in Oregon where it tends to be pretty wet.  So I don't have to water anything right now!  (as it starts raining again for the 3rd time today)

schoolsoutbride

I water my lawn weekly and deeply to encourage deep roots.  Basically follow this:

http://www.richsoil.com/lawn-care.jsp

The garden I do 1x a week in addition to what it gets when the lawn sprinklers go off.  

SFG gets one cup per sq ft per day.

flame

I use ollas in my veggie garden.  I check them daily and add more water as needed.  My herbs are in containers and I tend to water 2x a week using a hose with a very slow flow.  I don't have a lawn - just a wildflower meadow that gets no suplemental water.  And all my perrenials are zeric - no water for them.

~NB~

I water as needed.

Of course, I must pay attention, because everything has different needs. Plants are just like any other living thing... it's no different than bringing home a new puppy or a new baby. Even if you don't know anything when you start, you can learn if you pay attention. But you MUST pay attention.

Pamela05

I use a soaker hose for my veggies - I'm currently tryinga couple of hous of run time every couple of days.  Last year I did every day, twice a day for 30-45 minutes, but I've heard this might encourage better root growth.  We get really hot summer though.

I tried to go without watering our lawn unless absolutely necessary last year and essentially killed the backyard and let parts of the front yard get overrun by weeds.  This year we're going to have to start watering at least once a week to keep things healthy.

My flower beds get watered with a hose sprayer every other day, especially my hydrangea and new roses that start to look pathetic quick.