Stepping outside I hear parched leaves curling as my garden succumbs to the desert heat haze that looms above it. One hundred degree temperatures and no rain for weeks; rain barrels everywhere are dry to the bone. No rain has forced me into a task that’s never been easy for me; using the house hose to water the garden. It squashes a garden philosophy that is centered around letting nature do all the work with minimal maintenance on my part.

Technically a drought is defined as below average rainfall, usually for months or years. Luckily we’re not there yet, but some weeks there just hasn’t been enough rain to maintain a healthy landscape. When rain barrels are dry enough for spiders and well concerns make many hesitant to water anything but the vegetable garden, it’s time to spring into action. Here are some guidelines to help you determine when and what to water. I’m not including vegetable gardens or fruit trees because, frankly, if you want to eat you will have to water.

Trees are first on the list to consider because they take a long time to grow, are important to the landscape and expensive to replace. Newly planted trees take precedent over established trees; it takes about a year for a tree to be considered established. A tree under stress from lack of water may show signs of curling, yellowing and browning leaves; dropping off almost fall like. While this probably won’t kill a healthy established tree it could weaken it and set it up for disease.

Once you’ve decided which trees to water your course of action will be to saturate the soil from the trunk to the outer edges of the branches with a deep watering. Ninety percent of tree roots are located outward from the trunk and, surprisingly, just around 12 inches below the soil surface. Slowly watering at ground level to let the water soak in is the most efficient way to go. You may even consider building a soil berm around the drip line to further contain the water. Adding newspaper and mulch on top will help hold in moisture as well.

If your watering choice is a hose, how much and how long to water can be determined by measuring the trunk diameter (at about knee height) and applying 10 gallons of water for every inch. Ten gallons of water should take about 5 minutes to produce using the hose at medium pressure. Confused? So was I, this formula was obviously devised by someone with better math skills than me, so I have simplified it.

tree diameter x 5 minutes = watering time

Ex: A 4 inch diameter tree should receive 40 gallons of water – multiply 4 inches x 5 minutes = a total watering time of 20 minutes.

Two less traditional watering methods to try; a soaker hose, water to the drip line by coiling it from the trunk to the outer edge of the branches. And my favorite, a five gallon bucket (a Spackle bucket works) with a small hole drilled in the bottom. Fill to the top with water and set it around the drip line as often as needed or use several at a time. The water slowly leaks out to saturate the roots.

Small (1-7 inch trunks) and medium trees (8-15 inch trunks) need rain or a watering 3 times a month April to September. Large healthy trees (at least 16 inch trunks) should be fine with a short drought.

I water recent transplants every day while keeping a close watch on older shrubs and flowers for signs of stress. Most free trees and plants that magically pop up in your yard should be fine on their own as they usually develop a deeper root system. Apparently they never know where they will wind up, in your yard or out in a field somewhere, so deeper root systems prepare them for anything!

More watering tips:

Water in the morning and consider reusing any clean water that’s going down the drain. Such as chemical free water from pools, dehumidifier tanks, cooled off pasta or vegetable water etc.

Don’t fertilize or apply any chemicals during dry conditions

Keep up with weeds: they compete for water

This is not the best time to prune unless there are broken or diseased branches that are compromising overall health and could leave it vulnerable.

Mulch, mulch, mulch to conserve moisture and keep the soil temperature down. Four inches of mulch 6 inches away from the stems and trunks works fine..

Lawns can go brown and still green up with the first rainfall. I don’t recommend watering a lawn ever. I know it sounds harsh but trust me, I never water the grass and after every rain it comes back.

Mow only one third of the grass height to retain moisture, keep down weeds and sun damage.

Visit www.gardeningwhereyouare.com for more gardening advice.