Watering plants: The watering mistake you might be making while looking after your garden

Royal Horticultural Society give tips on watering plants

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Watering is essential for maintaining a healthy, green garden. It should be one of the first jobs on your daily to-do list. However, it’s important you use the right type of water when giving your plants a drink.

All plants need plenty of water to make sure they grow properly.

During the summer months, your garden might become your ideal oasis for relaxation – and maybe even a spot of sunbathing.

But while the warm temperatures are ideal for catching a tan, they can reak havoc on your plants.

Giving your plants plenty of water will help them to thrive in the heat, and allow their usual chemical reactions to continue, providing energy for growth.

When you come to watering your plants, it’s vital you use the optimum type of water.

If you have the capability, it’s always a good idea to store rainwater for watering.

It’s a purer type of water than tapwater, making it an ideal drink for your garden.

Tapwater might contain more minerals than your plants actually need, which might have a negative effect, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.

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“Water is a precious resource and supplies in the UK are under pressure from the effects of climate change, population increase and the need to protect the environment, such as river levels for wildlife,” it said.

“Rainwater is an excellent choice for plants and the first ‘go to’ for gardeners, as it is freely available if you are able to store it.

“Tapwater requires treatment and energy to deliver it to our homes and can contain more minerals than many plants need, especially ericaceous plants.

“Grey water from our homes can also be used in very dry spells.

While the type of water you use is important, it’s also crucial to avoid watering your plants in the middle of the day.

It’s best to water the garden in the early evening when the weather is hot and breezy.

That gives the plants plenty of time to dry out, but allowing for some overnight uptake.

If you’d rather do the watering in the morning, then you’ll have to get up before sunrise.

Always make sure that all layers of the soil are wet before you finish watering.

It’s also better to give the plants a good watering occasionally, as opposed to more frequent, light watering.

Lightly watering your garden will make the plants more liable to drought.

Generally, if your plants are wilting, they’ve got a good supply of water – so keep going!

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