After Planting, a Pre-Watering Checklist

Several readers have asked to see the checklist mentioned in last week’s column--a final checklist of things to do after planting but before you turn on the sprinklers to water everything in. It includes the following:

--Did I leave enough room between plants? This forces me to stand back and appraise the situation honestly. I often don’t leave nearly enough room, but at this point, I can dig them up one more time and space them a little farther apart.

--Are they going to be growing in sun or shade? This is especially important at this time of the year, because the sun is so low and some spots are going to become shady as the sun climbs in spring. Conversely, some spots in shade are going to get sunnier.

--Do they have the same water requirements? I want to avoid planting things that need lots of water next to those that need little because one or the other is going to suffer.

--Do their colors go together? Many of the things being moved or planted are not in flower, and it is difficult to keep track of them all, so a final check is called for.

--Can they be watered easily? This reminds me to build basins around shrubs that are going to need deeper, more thorough irrigations (by hand, with a hose) at first, and prompts me to see if the sprinklers reach all the plants in need, before I turn them on and get everything muddy.