Here in Cincinnati, it’s been a very hot ten days since the last rain. Most vegetable and annual flowering plants, and some perennials, need at least an inch of water a week. There’s no rain in the forecast for the next few days, so it’s time to water!

I’ve been hand watering my containers and newly planted specimens, every day or two, using rain water from our rain barrels. We have two forty-gallon rain barrels and one that is about 25 gallons. Below is a picture of the smaller one from last spring. The barrels catch rainwater runoff from the roof of the house that would otherwise just flow into the sewer.

Since I planted a lot of new stuff recently, I’ve been making many a trip across the yard toting a couple of two-gallon watering cans. No need to work out in the gym this week!

But I’ve reached the bottom of the barrels. And some stuff that hasn’t been getting the extra attention now needs a drink. So I’ve pulled out a couple of 50-foot soaker hoses, and I wind them amongst the plants that need water, and drip-irrigate one long bed at a time.

In the vegetable garden, which consists of three four by twenty-foot raised beds, I have cobbled together a way to drip irrigate all three at once without wasting water. A twenty-foot soaker hose is laid down the middle of each bed, and I’ve used Y-connectors and short hoses to hook the three together, as seen in the photo.

When the weather is in the 90’s and sunny, certain plants are sure to wilt. They recover in the evening after the sun begins to set. I’m thinking of hydrangeas and squash vines, for example. The wilting does not necessarily mean you should run out and water – but do water if the plants don’t recover. I hate to see my plants in this condition, so I try to do my summer gardening early in the morning, before 10:00 or so, and after dinner.

By the way, my favorite watering can is called the U-Can, and it has all kinds of helpful attachments. The well-balanced can has a compartment with a tight lid for storing dry or liquid fertilizer. There is a measuring cup and tablespoon, too. This makes it very handy to remember to feed those containers, which need extra fertilizer when they are getting watered so often.

I should disclose that the company sent me a sample can. Actually, I won it in a raffle at the Garden Writers conference last fall. Before I knew I had won, though, I asked my husband to get me one as a Christmas gift. The two cans arrived during the same week in November, causing a bit of confusion when I opened the box addressed to me, but my husband thought it must surely have been addressed to him!

The surprise was spoiled, but I love and use both watering cans all the time.

Happy Gardening,

Sue