August Plantings - that might be an oxymoron. Or at least maybe I'm the "moron" to try to plant new bushes in the dog-days of summer. However, I found a nice butterfly bush at the new struggling Farmer's market in town. I want to support our local growers, so of course I just had to buy it. Then there is that new "on-sale" hydrangea plant I bought a week ago. Both bushes needed to be planted immediately, because they were pot bound and needed more moisture than the pots could handle. So into the ground they went, but even though I have been watering them almost every day, they became wilted and stressed-looking.
How to save my new bushes from the heat and dryness of August - that's my problem. So we made a watering bucket. My husband drilled 5 very small holes in the bottom of an old bucket. I placed the watering bucket next to each bush and filled with water from our rain barrel. The water dribbled out and soaked into the roots of the bushes. I gave each bush 2 bucketfuls. It seemed to work very well. The water had a chance to go deep, and the bushes got enough water to recover their healthy look.
You might notice that the water is my bucket has a greenish tint. My husband adds plant fertilizer to the rain barrel, so that all our water is fortified. It's an easy, although imprecise way of adding fertilizer throughout the season. It seems to work for us. I'll continue watering my new August plantings with my "high-tech" watering bucket! It just might do the trick!
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