Winterizing Garden - Watering for Winter

Mitch Baker: I am Mitch Baker with American Plant. We are talking about winterizing your ornamental garden; right now watering is the topic. It's a critical time right now for all trees and shrubs; they are trying to store water for winter. It doesnt happen later in the season, it doesnt happen earlier, it's this critical time right now just prior to the leaves dropping and during that period when they are dropping. All of these trees, all of these shrubs are trying to store water for winter. If they do not get adequate water now, they go in to winter, in this deficit situation they are stressed. Now lets say, we have a severe winter or just the opposite where its a mild, warm, sunny winter. Further moisture loss occurring during the winter, at a time when these plants can't replace that moisture. So it's absolutely critical that they get adequate water this time of year. How much is enough? About an inch of water a week is what is necessary for most trees and shrubs. Now if you are going to water by hand, that's great, using a water breaker like this so that you are getting full volume without all the pressure. It just takes a few minutes around the base of these trees and shrubs individually, to thoroughly saturate the soil. And if you do that once in a week, you are getting adequate water into the soil profile. Now if you are going to use a sprinkler, that sprinkler needs to run for 60 to 90 minutes to deliver an inch of water into the soil profile. So don't short-change your plants this time of year. Make sure that they are getting adequate water going into the winter, this is a critical period. That's a bit about how much to water and when to water. Next, we will talk about pruning.