Rescue Dying Landscape Plants

It's a shame to see dying landscape plants, shrubs, and trees that sometimes cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, suffering from neglect or poor care. Rather than accept the loss and start over next season, you can save your landscaping investment -- with very little effort and cost -- over a period of three weeks.

Steps

  1. Assess your plants' watering needs. Under-watering is a far more common problem than overwatering.
    • As a general rule, each square foot of the landscape needs about 2-3 quarts of water weekly. Or, about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} per square meter. Put another way, it needs to receive at least one inch (about 25 mm) of rain or water each week.
    • Most trees need about 2-3 quarts of water once per week for every foot in height (spread evenly around its root system). Thus, a 20 ft tall tree should get 40-60 quarts of water once per week. Or, about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} per week for a 6 meter tree.
  2. Buy a lawn sprinkler, a garden hose, an automatic water timer, and an inexpensive rain gauge. You can get these at most hardware stores or garden centers. This is a small investment (probably USD$50 or less) compared to replacing thousands of dollars in landscaping. Most people fail in maintaining their landscape because they try watering all plants by hand. This usually leads to gross under-watering because of wrongly estimating watering needs. It is also massively time-consuming.
  3. To figure out how much water your lawn sprinkler is putting out per hour, set the rain gauge in its path while watering. Check it every 15 minutes. Once it hits the one inch mark (about 25 mm), note how much time elapsed. Depending on your home's water pressure and your sprinkling system, this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 120 minutes.
  4. On subsequent waterings, set the timer for the time needed to get an inch of water. The automatic timer will shut off the water so you don't waste it. This also saves you many hours compared to hand watering.
  5. Water your landscape on a regular schedule even if it looks like it may rain. It's unlikely you will over-water your garden even if it does rain.
  6. For the first week of plant rescue, water the landscape so it gets 3 inches (about 8 cm) the first week. To do this, water 1 inch (25 mm) every 48 hours for the first week. During this same period, trees should get 6-9 quarts of water for every foot (about 3 liters per meter) in height, spread evenly around the roots.
  7. For the second week of plant rescue, water the landscape so it gets 2 inches (about 5 cm) the second week. To do this, water 1 inch (25mm) every 72 hours for the second week. At this point, you should notice your landscape greening up quite nicely. Trees should get 4-6 quarts of water for every foot in height, spread evenly around the roots.
  8. For each week thereafter, water once per week so the landscape gets one inch (25 mm) per week.
  9. For each week thereafter, water each tree once per week so each gets 2-3 quarts for every foot in height (per week).
  10. At week three, get nutrients on your landscape. The second most common cause of dying landscape plants is inadequate plant nutrition. In other words, fertilize your plants. Inexpensive systems for applying fertilizer are available at most hardware stores or garden centers. Buy a garden feeder that attaches to your lawn sprinkler. The garden feeders usually come packaged with a popular brand of balanced liquid fertilizer. This can usually be obtained for under US$12.
  11. Follow the fertilizer package directions and apply balanced liquid fertilizer to your landscape using the garden feeder that attaches to your sprinkler.
  12. Fertilize once per month thereafter during the growing season, unless the package directions indicate otherwise.
  13. Amend your soil by applying compost or composted manure. This step should not be ignored. Fertilizer is only a short term solution for immediate rescue. Building the soil organically is a must.
  14. Compost or manure can be obtained at garden centers or hardware stores in 40-pound bags for under USD$3 per bag.
  15. Follow directions for spreading the compost on the bag. If the directions aren't printed, a general rule is one bag for every 10 square feet of planted landscape. (about 1 bag per square meter)
  16. If your landscape is mulched, rake away the mulch before applying the compost. Then replace the mulch.
  17. Apply compost or manure only once per year. It's best done in the spring in subsequent years, and can be applied more lightly, at the rate of 1 bag every 20 square feet (1 bag per 2 square meters)

Tips

  • If you can't find any of the needed materials, don't be afraid to ask for help at the store.
  • You don't need to obsess over proper pH or optimal nutrient amounts at this point. The idea is to quickly rescue your plants, now, so you don't have to spend thousands of dollars next year replacing them. Next season you can deal with these matters, if you wish.
  • Many people are afraid of overwatering or drowning plants. If you follow these steps exactly, you won't drown your plants.
  • In the future, consider planting drought-tolerant plants.
  • If you live in desert or arid regions, your watering and landscape needs will be much different. Consult a master gardener or landscape professional.
  • These steps, if followed exactly, will solve 90% of your landscape problems. If you don't notice any improvement after four weeks, contact a master gardener or landscape professional. Your plants may be suffering from disease, or be planted in the incorrect light or soil conditions. The professional will help you in these more difficult cases.

Warnings

  • If your community is restricting water use because of drought, you might need to be more creative to get your landscape needed water.

Things You'll Need

  • garden hose
  • lawn sprinkler
  • automatic water timer
  • inexpensive rain gauge
  • popular brand of balanced liquid fertilizer
  • garden feeder
  • compost or manure available in 40 to 50 pound bags (available from most nurseries, garden centers, or hardware stores)
  • rake
  • shovel

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