Desert Plant Watering Guide

If you ask anyone who lives in the desert how often to water your arid landscape you will get a different answer every time. After consulting with the professionals of xeriscape at the Desert Botanical Garden they have provided some very helpful guidelines.

First, don't bother adjusting your watering times, rather, adjust your watering frequency. Aim to run your emitters for 2 hours.

After every 5th watering, on your next scheduled watering system run it for 8 hours. This will flush away any salts that have built up around your plants. Salt can cause yellowing on many desert plants as well as other problems, not to mention it leaves a white powdery coating on your gravel, mulch or stones.

Most desert plants grow when it's hot. Hardly anything native to this climate grows in the winter. Plants are dormant during the winter so to avoid root rot, cut back the watering significantly.

As a general rule the older a plant is the less frequently it will need watering.

Keep in mind that every yard is different. Microclimates, soil composure, rockiness and plant watering needs vary. Keep an eye on your garden. If plants are wilting, tipping over, yellowing or dropping leaves you may need to adjust your watering.

Annuals need frequent watering due to their very shallow roots. Aim to water daily or at least every other day in the hotter months.

When it comes to trees, keep your emitters at the edge of the tree's canopy. For example, if your branches span 5 feet away from the trunk, put the emitters 5 feet away from the trunk. If you put the emitters too close to the trunk the roots have no incentive to spread out and hunt for water. This results in a very weak tree that will undoubtedly blow over during any of our windy days. Make your tree strong by moving the water source away from the trunk.

Here are two tables that can act as general watering guides: