From June to nearly October in southwest Idaho, gardeners cannot plan on any significant rainfall. If more than sagebrush is desired for the garden, one must have a watering plan. I do this by using a weekly watering chart.
Each place I have to hook up a soaker hose, water by hand, or attend to a pot or tree is listed with a locational description. I base my descriptions on how I look at my yard from the house and compass points. Many times a plant or section has survived only because it was listed on the chart.
Here is a copy of my chart for this year, which won’t do you a lot of good, but may stimulate your imagination and inspire your own chart making. (keep in mind that I live on an acre) I frequently reuse the same chart by color or symbol coding for sequential weeks, but it can get confusing if done more than two weeks in a row.
Creating one is worth the effort since it frees one from trying to just remember or go around constantly checking soil saturation. Just make sure to mark or check the sections off. Chose a habit of doing this that is easiest, like every time you turn on the water for that section or just after you have soaked a pot. A timer is the next best thing, so that you remember to turn faucets off.
Another benefit is that watering needs are more easily explained to someone when you go on a summer vacation. More than one person has sighed in relief when given the chart to work with at my house. Happy watering.
