You’re watering plants wrong – expert shares ‘correct’ way for growth

It is the time of year when many of us tend to our garden as they require quite a bit of maintenance. However, using effective methods can help. But a gardening expert has warned that your plants might not be thriving as you want, because of the way you are watering them.

Watering is crucial to the upkeep of any garden, but it is important to know how often to water certain plants and when.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) recommends watering your garden first thing in the morning before the sun comes up, meaning plants have a sufficient source of water they can use throughout the day.

Depending on the plants you have will also change how much you need to water them. Yellowing leaves might be a sign you are overwatering a plant, and excess watering can even lead to root rot and plant death.

Gardner Michael, a Dobbies Garden Centre ambassador who shares his gardening tips on TikTok, said that there is a right way and a wrong way to water your plants.

Michael, known as @themediterraneangardener on TikTok, said: “There’s things you’ve likely been told before, like you shouldn’t water your plants from the top, but from the base, and where possible you should water in the morning or evening and that’s all, but there are a few more.”

Many people use a hosepipe to water their gardens, but it can be hard to gauge how much water each plant is getting with a sprinkle. Michael said that if you water your plants with a hose pipe, it is likley that you have different spray nozzles that you can use. He insists that using the right nozzle can make a huge difference to how your plants thrive.

Michael explained: “The comb setting is for delicate water, jet is for cleaning, the fast fill is for buckets and watering cans, the fine rose is for gentle watering, the flat is for rising soap off your car and the fine mist is for seedlings.”

Using the correct nozzle for each job prevents damage to plants and measures their water consumption.

One commented and said: “I’m a lazy waterer, I have an air sprinkler…just move it around the garden.” One other shared their method, and added: “Watering from above seems to replicate rain falling from the sky so I’ve always done it and definitely in the evening.”

Another shared: “I always water the soil/ compost around the flower never from above as if it’s a warm day can cause scorching.”

In other gardening news, here are five tasks to do before summer to help your garden flourish.Plus, your lawn will stay “lush and green” if you add one item to your garden this summer, experts have told gardeners. If you are looking for low-effot plants, that look beautiful, here are the best ones to get.