Overheard a lady at the nursery talking about her "tough love" approach to watering

I was at the garden center last Saturday grabbing some shade mix for my back bed and this older woman was telling the cashier she only waters her plants when they start to droop. At first I thought that sounded kind of harsh, like she was neglecting them. But then she explained that she learned it from her dad who grew up on a farm and he always said plants get weak if you baby them too much. She claimed her roses bloom twice as long as her neighbors' because of it. I got to thinking about how I water my stuff on a strict schedule every three days without even checking the soil first. Maybe I'm doing more harm than good by being too predictable with the hose. Has anyone else tried this method and actually seen a difference in their perennials?

2 comments

2 Comments

smith.blair22d ago

Yeah I switched to watering only when the top inch of soil is dry last summer and my hydrangeas stopped getting those yellow leaves... tough love definitely worked better than my old Tuesday/Thursday schedule.

jason_stone22d ago

Oh man, @smith.blair nailed it. I started doing this last year with my tomatoes and they went from sad little guys to absolute monsters. I used to water them every morning without even checking and they got all leggy. Now I wait until they look a little thirsty and the flavor is way better too. Plants are tougher than we give them credit for lol.