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HOW OFTEN - & HOW MUCH - TO WATER It depends on the size, type, and age of the plant, of course, but here are
basic guidelines:

New turf seed and sod can be watered daily for the first week for about an hour, preferably in the morning. After the first
week, water every 2 days the next week, then 2 or 3 times a week thereafter, being sure the soil is wet to a depth of several
inches. Use a pencil or pocketknife, or just a stick, to insert in the soil to check moisture depth.

New trees and shrubs should be deeply soaked every 2 or 3 days the first week, then weekly thereafter. If possible, it's
best to place a very slow running hose at the base of each plant. Medium to large new trees and shrubs should get about 5
gallons per watering.

New annuals and perennials often need a thorough soaking every 2 days the first week, then twice a week thereafter.
Because these plants are very shallow rooted, watering every day or every other day may be required during very hot weather.
Plants of any type grown in containers will require more water than in the ground; in hot summer weather, even with adequate
rainfall, containers may need to be watered daily.

When dry weather settles in, even trees and shrubs planted within the previous 2 years will need watering. Under severe
conditions - high temperatures, low rainfall - these plants should be deeply watered at least once a week.

Remember that it's possible to overwater, which most often happens with in-ground irrigation systems. If you have an
automated irrigation system, be sure to have McFALL and BERRY technicians provide nozzle and pattern checks, make
system repairs, adjust timers and patterns, and prepare systems for winter shutdowns and spring startups.

The primary objective in watering plants is to keep the
plants alive and growing; not to wash the leaves, turn the
bed to mud, or blast the soil into the Chesapeake Bay.
As in most things, the proper tool works best. Here's a
quick review.

IMPACT SPRINKLERS are those things that go "ch-ch-ch-ch". The water comes out of a very small opening, so that the
increased pressure causes the dispersal arm to pulse into the flow (the "ch"), in turn causing the stream to become rain-
like in its distribution, traveling a considerable distance. This is an ideal in situ watering tool for lawns and very large
landscaped areas.

PRESSURE NOZZLES are terrific for washing cars and sidewalks, lousy for watering plants. Please do not use them; the
extreme pressure they create knocks down tender plants such as annuals, blows soil out of the bed, and literally bounces
off the soil surface, not penetrating deeply enough to make the root zone area wet. Useless, and wastes water.

PRESSURE WASHERS - the kind usually powered by small gasoline engines or electricity - are wonderful for cleaning
trucks, removing graffiti from buildings, and putting out large fires. Worthless for watering plants for the same reasons as
PRESSURE NOZZLES, but on a much grander scale.