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As promised pics my garden - big fail and in need of HELP!
The only thing I can't think is that I didn't water enough. I soaked it right after transplanting (apparently you should soak the plant and the hole before transplanting but I didn't know that). I have spent over $200 so far and have nothing to show for it. Last night I purchased a soaker hose from Lowes and laid it out - does it have to be right near every plant base? I couldn't get it that close to every plant and I feel like the soaker hose really only waters very close to the actual hose. Feeling very depressed - I was supposed to walk out of my front door each morning and feel happy looking at my garden and instead I feel frustrated and annoyed. I am not giving up - I am going after work to buy more perennials - I have printed out some drough-resistant species and will hopefully luck out and find them. BTW- this garden gets full sun from about noon on. Sorry for being such a debbie downer! Any advice GREATLY appreciated!
Re: As promised pics my garden - big fail and in need of HELP!
I have one suggestion: zinnias. They aren't perennials, but they do spread their seeds and pop up in the garden year after year. This is one of the few plants I have that won't die off in the summer heat (I live in the south and we already have temps in the 90's.) The home depot in my area has them on sale right now...yours may too. I've also had great success with black eyed susans- they always bloom from spring-fall and come back year after year. Begonias are pretty hardy too, as are vinca and portulaca. They can all take the heat of a full-sun garden. As far as your soaker hose goes, it does need to be close to the base of your plants. Could you just get a watering can instead? Its a little more work but you'll def. know your plants are getting watered. For my garden, which contains zinnias, black eyed susans, and coneflowers, I'll water twice a week (more if they start to look thirsty). However, these are very drought resistant plants. Also, make sure you water either very early in the am or in the evening. If you water in the middle of the day, the water will dry up before it can really get down to the roots.
Water in the mornings, it will help the plants get through the day. Don't forget to mulch, that'll help keep the moisture in. If a soaker hose won't work, maybe look into a diy drip irrigation kit?
There's a pretty good chance that your perennials are just putting out their roots a bit before they grow. For me they usually go through a droopy phase before taking off anyway. Also, it's normal for plants to droop a bit in the heat of the day, as long they perk up as it cools off, they're okay.
I've decided to try this annual as soon as I can. It's supposed to do well with heat.
"The meek shall inherit the earth" isn't about children. It's about deer. We're all going to get messed the fuckup by a bunch of cloned super-deer.- samfish2bcrab
Sometimes I wonder if scientists have never seen a sci-fi movie before. "Oh yes, let's create a super species of deer. NOTHING COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG." I wonder if State Farm offers a Zombie Deer Attack policy. -CaliopeSpidrman
It's a little early to give up on this. The plants have only been in the ground --- what? One week? Two? They're going through an adjustment period and will probably perk up shortly.
But yes, you may not have watered enough. Start doing so now!
Also, it looks a little sparsely planted to me. The pictures on the porch showed all the plants clustered together, and it was very pretty. But when actually planted, they're pretty far apart. You probably need to add more plants to fill it in -- maybe annuals for this first year, because they're relatively inexepensive, grow quickly, and will be gone when the perennials really start expanding.
Next year is when you're going to see the real growth from your perennials. This year they're concentrating on putting out roots and settling in.
Thank you for renewing my hope....I needed that. I agree about it being sparse and from what I found in my research this is almost inevitable in the first year - I don't want to have them overcrowded in future years. Trying SO hard to go "by the book" :-) I like your idea of adding some annuals and I think I will do that tomorrow.
In my experience, most people are completely unprepared to meet the water needs of new plantings. I water EVERY DAY. Some days, I water twice. In addition, it is typical for me to irrigate my new garden around the clock via mist.
Chin up. I only learned how to water properly when I worked in a nursery. The #1 job of the nursery employee is watering, and I watered 8 hrs a day. It taught me just how frequently young plants, whose roots haven't grown out into the soil (or are still confined to a pot) need to be soaked. And they do need to be thoroughly drenched daily. People also grossly over estimate how much water they're providing.
Keep at it, and keep them well watered.