How often should I water my newly planted holly bushes? I suppose we
will be getting a lot of rain since it is springtime, but I've read
that you need to water in addition to the rain to ensure the plant is
getting enough water.

Is a thorough watering once a week enough? Is there a way to check to
see if they are getting enough water? How deep should the soil be
damp?

On 24 Mar 2006 06:55:42 -0800, "Ima Googler"
wrote:

How often should I water my newly planted holly bushes? I suppose we
will be getting a lot of rain since it is springtime, but I've read
that you need to water in addition to the rain to ensure the plant is
getting enough water.

Is a thorough watering once a week enough? Is there a way to check to
see if they are getting enough water? How deep should the soil be
damp?


A newly planted bush, tree, or plant should be watered immediately
after planting, and then watered again the following day (this is not
true for cacti or succulents). The second watering is very
important. I'd say it needs 1" of water weekly until it becomes
established. Rather than check the plant, check your rain gauge.
Protect with a layer of compost or mulch.

an inch a week is usual rule of thumb. put a straight side cup near the plants.
Ingrid

"Ima Googler" wrote:

How often should I water my newly planted holly bushes? I suppose we
will be getting a lot of rain since it is springtime, but I've read
that you need to water in addition to the rain to ensure the plant is
getting enough water.

Is a thorough watering once a week enough? Is there a way to check to
see if they are getting enough water? How deep should the soil be
damp?



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On 24 Mar 2006 06:55:42 -0800, "Ima Googler"
wrote:

How often should I water my newly planted holly bushes? I suppose we
will be getting a lot of rain since it is springtime, but I've read
that you need to water in addition to the rain to ensure the plant is
getting enough water.

Is a thorough watering once a week enough? Is there a way to check to
see if they are getting enough water? How deep should the soil be
damp?
Probably too late for this advice (hopefully they made it anyway) but
container-grown transplants should be watered daily to twice a day (in
smaller amounts right next to the plant) at first. The light potting
mix generally dries out quite quickly while the native soil stays
moist longer (YMMV). So when you check for moist soil, you need to
check in the original rootball. After a week, taper off and gradually
spread the water out farther and deeper. Once the plants root into
the native soil, they will benefit more from the inch-a-week type
recommendations. Difficult to guage when that is, but if all goes
well you should be able to water normally after a month or so.

Thanks everybody!
I watered them really deeply twice on day 1 and then again on day 2.

I had been focusing on getting the area around the rootball to
encourage the roots to grow outward, but I'll try to put more water
onto the base of the plant itself as well.