Watering
Watering sounds easy, but it’s not. Getting the proper amount of water to your plants can be tricky. I know it from experience.
Years ago, I had to water hanging baskets outside a municipal office. I soaked every pot until the water starting gushing out from the bottom. Done? Not even close. My city gardener boss came over and told me to keep going.
My sister was attempting to keep her hawthorn memorial tree alive but her watering looked like someone had just relieved themselves in the tree well. When I happened to suggest that we needed water in the rootzone, I got push back because there is only so much waster available on the ranch.
And don’t even get me started on the man whose idea of watering is hosing off the cedar hedge sides.
If you don’t give your plants enough water, they stress and die; if you overwater, your plants suffocate as water displaces oxygen in the soil.
Yews
Clearly, these yews (Taxus) are dead, and I’m not happy about it. This planting was a lot of labour because this spot is at the back of the building, which means no truck access. We had to carry these yew rootballs up the stairs.
Then, there is the planting in tight spots. Digging a hole, placing the yew in there at the proper height, and then backfilling the hole nicely. I don’t think we watered the yews in on the first day because there weren’t any hookups. That’s already a bad start.
Too much water
In this spot, the problem is too much water, and too much shade. You can see the irrigation hose, but you can’t see the soggy soil. I don’t think it’s draining, and that suffocates our yews when water displaces oxygen in the soil.
When cedars and yews don’t survive here, you have a problem.
