The factors of a landscape that is cared for versus neglected in how it relates to helping your plants get an increased amount of blooms might be the easiest to rectify of all the sections of this article. We’re going to go over a simple guiding philosophy for starters and then briefly cover points of :
- Watering
- Trimming & Fertilizing Maintenance
- Protecting from maintenance damage (weedeater hitting bark, irrigation checks, mulch around and not lawn up to plant base over sometimes for younger, establishing plants)
- Watering problems, underwatering, Overwatering, Mold & Mildew problems
Whenever possible, a short answer that is effective and helpful is often very readily sought after and appreciated. That’s what we’re going to try and start off with.
For those who are learning about caring for a landscape, or some who have a peaked interest in why something in the yard suddenly, or maybe not suddenly, but is noticed to be not doing as well as hoped for, or not as well as in the past possibly, unfortunately, high on the list of answers we come across with residences might be neglect.
In all fairness, for most property owners, very few have had training to know how to care for a landscape, let alone, if someone doesn’t know how to care for plants, there’s little chance often for someone to really know – what they don’t know. We’re hoping this articles helps those in this category as well and starting with the basics, the most important points of care which include :
- Proper watering (and this can be over done and under done to the demise of the landscape; depending upon soil conditions of your property. Read on Xeriscaping, will be a money saver and a way to help get a longer lasting, healthier and more beautiful return on landscape for the long haul.
- Fertilizing, feeding the landscape and tips on what to use for starters
- Trimming the landscape – should be done periodically.
- Pest & disease control, observance and treatment
Now you know, these are the basics of care and if they are not being done, then it gets into the area of problems that can occur from neglect. We have a Landscape Care & Guideline which we provide on our website and refer all our clients to to help with this point of instructions and a guide from the time of installation into the longer term. We can say without hesitation that those who follow the guidelines verses those who don’t; those who do have significantly healthier, fuller and more beautiful, longer lasting landscapes than those who don’t – hands down.
The link to that article of Care & Guidelines is here for any who might wish to reference :
For some neglect might be hard to think of as maybe there’s a company that’s supposed to be caring for a landscape. If you leave it to the professionals and really don’t know that they are missing one or two or more important care details along the way, what you can tell is when it begins to become noticeable there’s a problem possibly as the landscape and property seems to be going into decline beauty and health wise. If its a company that’s hired to take care of the lawn and everything, but they’re really not doing a great job with the landscape, but the lawn is looking good, its a different time factor quite often that makes this a point a lot of maintenance companies might be missing on.
Some might be straight forward and just state, we’re only doing the lawn, and for the landscape you’re on your own.
Whatever the case, if you are caring for the landscape yourself, which many people get a satisfaction from, yes, there’s a group of people there as well, it could be a point of just missing a few things that need to be worked in. For the real landscape and yard enthusiasts, the University of Florida Extension Services which are based in our local Botanical Gardens in our Counties here in South Florida, offers Master Gardening Courses to help provide an education available to any wishing to learn.
Back to the yard, let’s go to the extreme, the yard is looking terrible. Plants are sick or dying, trees are losing their shape.
First question we might ask is; “When is the last time you fertilized ?”
The answers might vary from not really knowing or never fertilizing, to – “ we have a company that’s supposed to be doing it”.
The philosophy that might be simple to remember hopefully, we have wrapped up in a question :
Imagine having a child or a relative that you love, living with you, and you fed everyone else in the house very well, except that one child or relative. Imagine that one child or relative didn’t get fed as often. What do you think might happen ?
Malnutrition could be one factor. Definitely grumbling and some hard feelings or worse.
Neglect of attention could be another. Outright problems in mood and possibly serious health deterioration. If blooms and flowers were smiles, drooping leaves and dying bare, twig branches might be cross or desperate looks it might be thought. Many might say, plants and trees will talk to you in their own way if you can tell what to look for. We’re hoping to provide some of those cues to pick up on here.
To put it simply, plants and trees are living things and when you neglect to care for or feed something that is living, things don’t typically go well.
That’s first. The level of care people have in mind verses what is actually needed needed can vary wildly depending on the landscape design and conditions of the property. This can vary as well based on how much someone might – or simply – might not know. Again, watering, fertilizing, trimming – these are the Big 3 for basics.
There is a way to design for a low maintenance landscape which we begin as a goal for every project, allowing for people to decide if they wish to have some elements they might wish for that require extra care, but at least helping to inform people in advance if some plants or trees might require more work.
We believe in trying to make things easy as possible and often will start with a minimal approach, but even in a minimal approach in terms of care; landscape care is needed at some intervals. We’ll start with the minimal approach here and begin with hopefully providing some understanding to help avoid neglect and a baseline for what kind of care should be performed.
It begins with the design. We are going to look to help with what you have right now, but for any thinking or maybe planning in the future; our goal with any new landscape design is to create a landscape that will not only be long lasting, (see our life span expectations in the section on Yellowing leaves, or Chlorosis in this article) , but also a landscape that will be low maintenance.
Maintenance is determined before the first plant is put in the ground. It is in the choice of the plants or trees and then the location(s) that they are going to be placed in, how big they get when they mature, the arrangement and spacing that makes up the factors of landscape maintenance more than anything else.
Knowing how large or small a plant or tree will grow creates an ability to know what the landscape should look like years in advance. A point that can’t be overlooked when planning to create not only a beautiful landscape, but one that will be hardy and long lasting and low maintenance.
What is considered low maintenance in regards to Trimming ?
People may have different ideas of what this means for them. In regards to trimming, our own definition of low maintenance is anything that requires 3 or 4 or less trimmings per year.
Anything more than 3 or 4 trimmings per year we classify as a higher maintenance item.
Now if you’re going for a low hedge, medium or even a large hedge with a desired look for a tightly, trimmed look all the time, this could be monthly or every other month trimming for many different plants and hedges sometimes. A higher maintenance style to keep. Plant choice again can greatly help, knowing how large a plant or tree wishes to mature in height.
The photo here offers a view of a simple, clean open area that is low maintenance. One of the lowest maintenance hedges in our area, the Podocarpus ‘Maki’ hedge. Very slow growing, easy to keep. Slow growing goes hand in hand with lower maintenance, also means it takes longer to fill in or grow to a larger size if purchasing smaller heights. (Smaller the plant or tree can save a lot of money with a little patience on any design).
The 3 Holly trees in the photo are at a comfortable mature height, easy to keep in this shape and this landscape easily falls into the 3 or 4 trims or less category that we consider lower maintenance.
In the photo here, a front entry highlighted with a showing grouping of Pink & Peach Canna Lillies, this should also be an example of a landscape that can be maintained with a quarterly trimming and fertilizing. We note the fertilizing it should be included with a quarterly trim schedule for any landscape for the first few years after installation to help promote the growth and establishment of the new landscape.
When designing a proper this approach of helping people to understand realistic expectations that don’t have any personal experience with landscape care is a good baseline to help determine what someone can handle for the longer, healthy term of their landscape. Their plants between 10 to 15 years on the larger perennial bushes hopefully with proper care, generations or longer on their larger hedges and trees and palms.
Someone might wish for an item that has a beautiful bloom output, that is a great ornamental tree, but really high maintenance, maybe needing to be trimmed in some spaces monthly even during the faster growing summer months like a bougainvillea. I reference a bougainvillea as a tree, plant or a trellised vine form for a reason, because it is one of the highest required frequency of trimmed items in a South Florida landscape in many placements. (Both of these photos here are highlighting examples of Bougainvilleas as standard tree forms).
There are ways for some properties that have the spacing to have this trimmed in that 3 to 4 range annually or less, but it depends on the spacing and placement. Again, a design point.
So, not to go further, but as a baseline, when it comes to regular trimming, 3 to 4 trims per year on a plant, we consider to be low maintenance.
It is also possible, that some plants can go in some spaces and not require even 2 or 1 trim for an entire year. Again, depends upon the plant or tree and the spacing and conditions where they are.
One reason why trimming is so important, especially from early on is because it is a vital part of regenerative, controlled growth. To help plants keep a desired shape. Trees are also needing shaping, especially as they mature, some more than others, some trees need maybe an annual trim or once every few years, some trees may need less than this. Plants and hedges, if you let them grow and don’t trim, especially if not trimming at all, they will not look good typically. No matter how nice they were when first installed.
They will grow leggy at the bottom and this quite often can not be trimmed back to grow in at the bottom. A hard trim is best and there should be examples of this besides our own advice, it might be possible, depends on the type of plant, how “leggy” they’ve gotten with no leaves on the bottom, how old they are, are they healthy, etc.
A good trim helps to shape and re-generate thicker branch and leaf growth. This will also increase the density of the planting and with a thicker, more robust and concentrated grouping of a shaped bush or plant, a higher, tighter concentration of blooms are also a greater chance as well.
There is a certain amount of nutrient intake through the leaves and the root system that the plants and trees are taking in. The tighter that configuration, or the more it is kept closer to its desired shape and size, the greater chance that plant will be happier as it is cared for and will reward its caretaker with a bigger bloom and flower output.
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So, next issue down the check list after sunlight, and if the plants are being maintained with regards to trimming, next, are they being fed or fertilized?
This is another one of the most frequent questions we look to get an answer to when we’re answering a question to help someone get more blooms in their yard.
Are the plants being fertilized, are they being fed ?
As we touched on the need for some to recognize that their landscape is a living thing, which will not fair well without being fed, there are different needs that some properties are faced with as all properties Do NOT have the same soil conditions. Some plants and trees may fare better in some properties, while there is a lot of plants and trees that are very hardy and should be able to live just about anywhere. The hardiest we try to deal in all the time and there are a large number of them, and offering diversely different looks and choices, backed by a well prepped grade for installation and then, making all aware about how to care for the landscape long term.
On to the fertilizing, while it is helpful all over, with some properties it can be even more important to do so than others sometimes.
There are some properties that are blessed with an abundance of nutrients that require little extra work to maintain a healthy status quo. In Palm Beach County, Florida where our concentration of service is based, there are many areas and neighborhoods that have better soil conditions than others, and like any area, not all neighborhood or cities are all the same. The situation of a neighbor even a few houses down can be very different than your own soil conditions that you are experiencing, for better or worse.
A good rule of thumb is to think of a newly installed landscape as a little child or an infant even. Doesn’t matter how big the plants or bushes or even large machine size trees are going in, they’re new to the property and that makes them infants in their new location. The bigger the materials even may require extra effort, depending upon the tree or palm, or plant or hedge material choices and the particular soil conditions of your property.
So, thinking of the new landscape as an infant, more attention when they’re young (newly installed landscapes) and hopefully less as they get older.
Fertilizing 3 to 4 times a year for the first few years is what we recommend. How to fertilize, how much, what kind of fertilizer, landscape industry professionals can have varied opinions on what kind of fertilizers similar to mechanics and their preferred motor oils.
We’ve used 8 – 10 – 10 Lesco brand for plants and trees and 13 – 3 – 13 Lesco brand for decades with good results. Available typically at Home Depot and Lowes as well at a number of specialty garden locations and professional supply houses.
Different soil and drainage conditions, different Ph balances in the soils might make one fertilzer a better fit in treating your particular landscape on your property. If there is a landscape maintenance contractor or pest control company that does fertilzing and is experiencing great results in your neighborhood, may be worthwhile to ask what they’re using if you are dealing with trying to improve the health and beauty of your own yard and the 8 -10 – 10 or 13-3-13 isn’t getting the same results, and you’re applying it with the same frequency and method as a granular around the base.
To note here on getting more blooms, sunshine, trimming, fertilizing, these are a big 3.
Remembering the plants are living things, that nothing living really does well if neglected, might be a thought to store in mind if you’re hoping to have a better looking yard.
Doesn’t matter how beautiful the landscape was when it was first going in, Proper Landscape Care is what it takes to keep it that way. Even the most beautiful landscape going in can look horrible and die if neglected.
Some may not know what they’re planting and become surprised, even overwhelmed when the plants and trees start to grow beyond what was needed or hoped for.
Knowing the plants in the design, how big they each like to be when they are mature, helps to create a lower level of required maintenance care, but they will still need to be trimmed at some points and will need to be fed and fertilized.
Not only will the fertilization increase the nutrient intake of the plants and trees, providing a boost of new energy and food that should show visible results in the health of your landscape, if you’re going for more blooms and you’re not fertilizing, start immediately and get on a plan to fertilize 3 to 4 times a year.
The link here goes to an article of ours on our referred Landscape Care Notes which goes into more detail on the topic of fertilizing, as well as trimming, weeding and watering.
An extra tip on maintenance, keeping the lawn away from touching the base of the plants
2 main reasons :
- When the lawn grows up against the base of a plant or tree, when the lawn is being cut and trimmed by a weed eater, the weed eater will often have to go so close to get the lawn away from the plant or tree that it will actually nick or cut at the stalk of the plant or tree.
What this does that hurts the plant or tree :
When the plant or tree experiences being cut, repeatedly especially, with a weedeater it might be similar to imagining cutting your forearm possibly with a sharp blade or knife. It will bleed. Then it will have to scab and heal. Forget about the scarring, just the repetition of being cut, over and over by a weedeater on the bark of the plant or tree is going to require nutrients to help continually heal that same, repetition of being cut, scabbing and trying to heal.
Nutrients are repeatedly going to that “wound” from the weedeater and those nutrients that would normally go towards growth, possible flower output for your flowering bushes – those nutrients are continually being diverted and spent on trying to keep on healing that repetitive wound from the weedeater.
Solution :
Keep mulch around the base of the plants. This will help to keep the weed eater from needing to get as close to the plant, will look better and the plant will actually get the chance to increase the amount of water that it is receiving.
When the lawn is grown too close, up and under a plant or tree, the lawn requires water to live and it is going to absorb water, the same way the plant or tree needs to drink and absorb water.
By having mulch underneath the plant instead of the lawn, the mulch is also a healthy way to help retain moisture longer to the benefit of the plants and trees. Not only dressing up, protecting the plant and trees from scarring weed eater strings, protecting the amount of water for the plant or tree, the mulch also helps to dress up the look.
A win with the mulch all the way around, so if you have a plant or tree struggling to bloom, after these other points of trimming, fertilizing, look to see if the lawn is encroaching to close to the plants that your hoping will bloom more.
If this is the case of an encroaching lawn, chop out that lawn quickly, give it an extra foot of space away from the outer branches of the bush if you can; trim if you need to, fertilize, mulch and you should see a difference in weeks possibly during the warmer months hopefully.
How much mulch? An inch should be adequate most often. People can vary in opinion on this. With properties that are over watered or have drainage challenges and problems, if the mulch is too thick, similar to several inches thick, you may see fungus or mildew growth begin in the mulch sometimes. We suggest an inch, it has always worked well for us; others may have other opinions.
The goal for us with mulching is not weed suppression so much as weeds can grow up even through asphalt roads. Mulch does help as a weed suppressor, but to help protect the health and moisture for the plants, for us, this is the bigger health aid, besides the beautification that a good mulching can provide.
A connection we share with soils and plants in nature; common range of healthy, needed Ph balance levels humans share with plants and soils :
Sometimes we can read a lot and its a simple thought that might stay with us as a reminder and a guide. As the relative that goes unfed might be a way that helps some possibly remember to feed their landscape as a living thing, another aspect some might find interesting are the ways that nature and plantings are similar to us as humans.
They require nutrition and water and the supplements in our own diets, the macro and micro nutrients also are a very effective way that some knowledgeable nursery growers approach the composition of their own soil mixes and fertilizer levels and what they use for the varieties or species they grow.
Plants and trees even have vascular systems that move nutrition through their structures of stalks, branches and leaves in a method similar to the way our own vascular system works. Plants also have a PH balance that when healthiest is similar to our own recommended levels of Ph.
For example, a sought after, healthy range of the PH balance of soil that is most beneficial to a range of plants is agreed largely to be held between 6.0 and 7.5.
For people, according to a number of sources, including the one we are citing here from the National Library of Medicine :
“ Life on earth depends on appropriate pH levels in and around living organisms and cells. Human life requires a tightly controlled pH level in the serum of about 7.4 (a slightly alkaline range of 7.35 to 7.45) to survive [1]. “ The Alkaline Diet: Is There Evidence That an Alkaline pH Diet Benefits Health?, J Environ Public Health
. 2011 Oct 12;2012:727630. doi: 10.1155/2012/727630, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3195546/
A fact some might find interesting, the same required levels Ph levels in the soil for plant health exist in a part of the same range that we require for Ph levels as humans. The importance of maintaining the health levels of our soil and protecting from toxins not only helps protect ourselves, but also, the lives of the plants and trees that make up our environments.
We need to protect our dirt quite simply and in this mind, if there are methods that reduce toxins in maintaining and caring and treating and feeding landscapes, we are interested. Some great organic, home remedies that we hear and come across sometimes and we share some on our Pinterest board page, and are open to hopefully see marketed, effective organic products replace the manufactured toxins across the board, as quickly and soon as possible.
The old saying “from dust to dust”, our own Ph balance being in the same range as healthy levels of soils for plants and trees might be another point that might stick as a reminder of the need to care for the landscape as a living thing in a bigger picture sense.
For those who enjoy a beautiful yard or property, we hope you may find the info here useful and helpful and providing some value to you. That is the hope.
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Watering :
A very important aspect not only of having a healthy impact on possible bloom outputs, but also a healthy landscape overall itself.
How much watering for your landscape is one point is one that many people ignore to the detriment of their landscapes, can take a beautiful new landscape and ruin it in some properties for different reasons.
Poor draining properties can over water easily and cause Necrosis to set in and kill off a lawn or landscape by roots that become too weak and unable to root in difficult soil conditions that hold too much water.
Dry, sandy porous soils can have landscapes that suffer when being first planted if not enough water is provided in the early stages to help the landscape become established, especially through the first few months and most notably with larger tree materials in these properties in the early stages during the 3 month acclimation stage after installation. A tip, using bubblers located at the base of larger trees will help bring water right to the base of a tree where it is needed most. Also, techniques using a slow drip from a hose, to the base of a tree can be very helpful to keep the soil damp for a particular tree or trees immediately following a large tree installation in a sandy, porous soil if needed – without the need to keep an irrigation system running for an entire area for an extended period.
Mold, Mildew on the Ground – A sign of an over watering problem
We see people who have a well trimmed yard, well fertilized and then, little to no thought on the watering schedule. We see situations where landscape maintenance may be a priority and taken care of diligently, a lot of effort being put in to keep the landscape shaped and fertilized, but it is still under performing. There are a number of reasons why this might be, which can also affect the performance of blooms and flowers on plants and trees if the landscape is struggling, however, with a walk around the building or home, the sight of a mossy green or a green tint on the ground or along the base of a wall is a sign of an over watering problem.
Or the Hoa controls the watering for their home and the HOA has never even researched the subject with on their own or with the South Florida Water Management District who is the water authority in our local South Florida areas here, and these same HOA (Home Owner Association) leaders are responsible sometimes for hundreds, if not thousands of homes.
Humbly believe anyone sitting on a board for a landscape review should be required to visit the South Florida Water Management headquarters in their local area and become educated to the water challenges of their immediate area, as well as the way that training a landscape on a Xeriscape Watering Strategy will help to increase the beauty and longevity of their communities and homes landscapes in their care, create stronger and deeper root systems, have the increased ability to extend the life of the landscapes in their neighborhoods for creating healthier landscapes.
Further, a water responsible approach that the South Florida Water Management District can advise on will help save money with that Xeriscape strategy. Primarily, Xeriscaping is training the landscape to be less reliant on support from irrigation systems, and more reliant on the natural rainfall levels. When we’re receiving rain, foregoing running irrigation systems completely during those days and weeks. A good rain provides much better water coverage, and in greater quantity that the mists from irrigation systems very often. That rainfall, during regular seasons, should be enough quite often. Now lawns and annuals will require a misting more than the plants and trees, as they have shorter root systems and to keep everything looking good, satisfying the water needs of the short roots from lawns and annual flowers will require the more often frequency, but not a drenching for the entire property with the irrigation system.
Overwatering with Irrigation Systems, Mold / Mildew is visible on the ground, the need to reduce watering times and frequency
These photos here of some homes, here in Palm Beach County, Florida, are typical of many neighborhoods, especially in the western communities. If you’re seeing the green tint on the ground, that’s a sure marker that you have more water being retained than the ground can absorb, quickly enough. This build up leads to dampness, and long standing dampness will promote the mold and mildew growth on the ground as you see in these photos.
Uncared for, or uncorrected, it can often begin to grow on the outer walls of a home or building.
This situation with mold or mildew growth on the outside of a home or building is a situation that should be avoided and if it is happening we suggest helping to correct it immediately. If anyone does not think it could be a large, life altering problem, speak with mold remediation specialists or anyone who has suffered from having mold or mildew remediation work done at their home. Some of us are more sensitive to mold and mildew than others and in our experience, dealing a lot with helping people correct drainage problems, a small crack of flaw at the base of the foundation of a home or building is enough to let water into a home. Similar method that mold or mildew can enter as well.
If you see this mold or mildew growth around your own home or building, first, realize there’s too much water on the ground.
Second, adjust your irrigation system, cut it back to once or twice a week to 10 minutes or 30 minutes most. Then make adjustments as needed or talk with someone knowledgeable in your area who is experienced in dealing with landscapes and mold and mildew growth from overwatering and help them analyze the timing and frequency that you might need.
Please Note : We take no responsibility for the adjustments of the watering schedules at your property. Properties vary greatly in their soil composition and densities and porousness so there is no blanket recipe we can offer that will say for certainty what your frequency of days to water and what timing of minutes you should be setting your irrigation system to. Also, there are variances in the weather with an overabundance of rain at times, contrasted with times of drought in different areas. So there is no way that we can give you a time without knowing your property, inspecting and seeing what is going on. That we can do for our clients only, who are in our service area, and we can respond as needed and for them only.
What we can promise is that when you cut down on your watering times your landscape will possibly go through a stress as you are weaning it from an over abundance of water that is creating the mold or mildew growth on the ground.
Your landscape may immediately perk up in the weeks following as the ground dries to normal levels if the reduction in watering levels is enough. It is possible you might see strain in the leaves, wilting, etc. as the landscape plants and trees are forced to grow their roots stronger into the ground to help them become more self reliant and strong. A necessary process and yes, it is possible to lose some of the struggling plant and tree materials.
You will need to adjust as necessary to strike the needed balance of having a property that is not so damp to have mold and mildew growth on the ground, which is a certain need, and transitioning to a landscape that can rely much more on natural conditions than over watering from an irrigation system.
How much should we be running our irrigation system if we are one of the properties that has a visible problem on the ground or walls of the home or building with mold and mildew growth ?
If Mold, Mildew Growth and the HOA controls the frequency of the Irrigation System for your property and neighborhood
If Mold or Mildew is visible and present in your property, often found near the sides of a home, you definitely need to investigate how often your landscape is being watered. If you live in an HOA community that controls the running of the irrigation system, a suggestion is that you take photos or even videos of the trouble areas.
Photos are helpful for showing standing rainwater during storms, for evaluating drainage problems. Videos have been most helpful for us in evaluating standing water problems ourselves, especially if showing flooding during a rainstorm. With these photos / videos, taking not only the mold and mildew growth that is visible now, but during a rainstorm, and sending them to your Hoa helps to add a visible measure to the problem that can be very helpful in the evaluation and understanding of the need to get change to the existing conditions and help determine needed actions for desired results.
With these photos and videos we suggest emailing your Hoa as it provides a record of when you notified them of the problem your having at your property. Ask them to help you with a specialist to determine what can be done to fix the problem. Less running of the irrigation system, there could be months during the summer that the irrigation might only be slightly needed to run and weeks it could be off all together because of natural rainfall.
Less power to run the irrigation systems required if running less.
Deeper root systems from Xeriscape watering strategy, deeper root systems equals stronger plants and trees.
Stronger plants and trees with deeper roots, more resilient against pests and diseases.
Stronger roots in landscapes, longer life spans and cycles, less replacements.
Stronger root systems from a long term, reduced watering in a Xeriscape watering strategy, less water from irrigation system, less mold and mildew growth on the ground. The mold and mildew growth in a lot of residences in Palm Beach County, Florida that we see occurs more in the central and especially western neighborhoods where the Hoa’s or homeowners that control their own irrigation systems, don’t react and reduce the watering when mold or mildew growth begins to appear on the ground.
Dense soil conditions are ripe for problems with drainage challenges and some call us not for landscape, but sometimes as they are unfortunately needing a dependable drainage system to be installed to help take water away from entering or threatening to enter their home. We have articles on our website here both for recommendations on watering schedules for your landscape and on drainage challenges and new drainage systems for any in need. How they work, how to build the drainage systems oneself if needed.
When a landscape is new we suggest watering every single day for the first 2 to 3 weeks for an average of 30 to 45 minutes per zone, per day. Early morning or later in day, when the heat of the day is not present for best results. Some properties may need to reduce this or increase this based on the soil conditions of the property and the size of the materials sometimes. Example, larger tree material installed in sandy, very porous and well draining soil conditions can require a lot more water than average, sometimes hours on the trees or more during the first days and weeks after an installation.
A property with very dense, marl like soil as in the photo of a hole here being prepped for installing a french drain. Properties with very poor drainage conditions can have a mud slick in the yard sometimes if watering even every other day at 30 minutes. 10 or 15 minutes a day or every other or third day might be required in the 2nd and 3rd weeks sometimes for that property that has bad drainage problems. Soil can be amended, re-grading can be a drastic way to improve drainage challenges, piped systems can be less obtrusive and a less costly way to approach the watering challenges of a poorly draining property. Further information is in the drainage articles on our site here.
For watering schedules through irrigation systems, after the first few weeks, cutting back to every other day for 30 to 45 minutes on average and then after the 3 month mark, going towards as little watering as a goal long term is advised with a Xeriscape strategy more information is provided on.
A weaning process going to twice or three times a week. Once a week would be good as the lawns and small annual flowers with the shorter root systems will need the most frequent watering.
Accounting for dry weather periods that experience less rainfall versus times of more rain are factors that can affect the bloom output of your plants and the overall health of the landscape as well that should be adjusted for as called for.
The less water that is needed from irrigation systems over the longer term maturity and life span of the landscape after it becomes established, the more Xeriscaped the landscape becomes with natural, self sustaining ability, the deeper the roots and the healthier the landscape. All these factors can not only save money in the short and longer term, but also provide a healthier, robust, longer lasting landscape that should be more responsive to an extra watering and fertilizing, over a landscape that is over watered, with more shallow root systems and an over watered landscape that might also be combating an increased presence of insects and diseases or mold or mildew that requires treatments to protect the health of landscapes.
For more information on watering strategies, check out our Landscape Care Notes or even visit our local South Florida Water Management Districts words on Xeriscaping benefits or our own University of Florida on the topics of benefits from Xeriscaping Watering strategies as well.
The 3 photos included here are showing an example of our definition of a french drain. To our definition, a French drain is a hole in the ground, lined with a fabric and filled with stone. What the cavity does is help to open up the ability to accept water that does not drain well or remains damp typically for too long of extended periods of time to the muddiness or even growth of mold or mildew might be present.
These French Drains are very helpful for drying out damp areas of ground, helping to reduce or remove surface mold or mildew and let the ground better accept water and natural dew.
They are not good at serving as Drainage Systems. A drainage system is intended to help with storm rainwater. When planning for a drainage system, best to think of a long lasting week or weeks of heavy or flooding rains, and the system is intended to continually move the water away from the home or building for that entire time, no matter how many days or weeks the heavy rains may last.
The French drain is not for solving heavy rain problems, again, best for drying out damp areas of ground. Similar to once a bath tub is filled, the French drain when filled can not accept any more water until it dissipates. French drains are limited to how much water they can accept determined by their size, a Drainage system is designed to collect stormwater and keep it flowing consistently over a short or extended period of time. For more information on drainage systems we have photos and articles on our site.
