This is the Hosta. Checking the soil is going to be difficult. I had an unblievable amount of weeds popping up so I put weed fabric under and wrapped it around the plant, then put multch on top. I live in Vancouver, Canada. I am very new to this so I don't know if to water everyday, once a week, twice a week, or what. Also the fertilizers I have, the one for shrubs is high on nitrogen. If they don't need much fertilizer, I will use it every two weeks or something.

its going to be hard.. to water a water loving plant.. if you covered all the soil below.. with fabric ...

fert it TWICE all summer... once in a month.. and then one month later.. and thats all .....

NEVER FERT A NEW TRANSPLANT ... they are plants.. not children.. they dont need to be constantly fed ... and a stressed plant does not need food ... its stressed from planting ...... not hungry ... right now ...

i once used black mulch.. it got so hot in the sun.. that by late july.. the plants were all fried looking ...

if the bed is south facing... and gets hot afternoon sun ... they will fry for that also ...

if that is a daylily.. and its thriving in the full sun it needs .. the hosta might stress... or vice versa .....

you are either a DL collector.. or a hosta collector.. and the prime reason is.. they do not thrive together ... but if thats also a new plant.. we will have to see how it all works out ... they wont die.. they just wont look pretty in late summer... one or the other might have to be moved out ... and that would be.. 'gardening' .....

good luck ..

ken\

ps: never use fabric again ... for about a hundred reasons ... try the search function.. and see if you can drag up any posts about such ... and also.. visit the perennial forum.. for a bunch of other type experts ... and the annuals forum.. etc .. pick and choose a few ... and learn ... and dont hink there are separate rules.. for separate plants .. most of what i told you is general gardening tips ... and hence the suggests you read all around ... some one.. may be your muse..

It is facing East. Around 1, it is covered in Shade. The daylilies have been there for a long time. They are doing ok, not great. That area might be too shady for daylilies and too sunny for hostas. I still don't know how often to water it though. Like everyday, or every second or third day? I am going to need to go with such rules until I understand the plants better.

Amir, what you might want to do is water it thoroughly now if you have not done so after planting. Then, if it has not rained for 2-3 days, stick you finger in the soil (past the mulch and the fabric) and see how the soil feels. If it feels nice, cool and moist, look at the plant- are the leaves drooping? If the soil is moist & the plant looks perky, give it another day then check again. If the soil is cool, but not so moist or the plant is looking questionable (maybe not drooping, but not as perky), go ahead and give it a nice drink. To give you an idea of what a nice drink might be, take a children's sand bucket, fill it up halfway and then slowly pour near the base of the plant, if the soil is dry, go ahead and give more.

Rules like a schedule for watering are difficult as you can drown a plant as well as dehydrate. Therefore, pay attention to when it rains, check on the plant and soil a few days afterwards, and when you water, water it deeply so the water penetrates down and encourages deep root growth.

Hope this helps!

Posierosie- Great advice. The ole finger trick works for just about every plant you have. Always wet ain't good, unless you live in a sandbox like Ken. I've gone a week with pots here before the leaves showed any sign of wilting and that is with fast draining mix. So much depends on weather and temps. We get really cool at night even in summer here and I have drowned some more than once. Hostas need air and water, so let the top couple inches dry before you water. Watch them and soon you will know when they are happy and when they need a drink. The leaves feel softer and more floppy when they need water (tough to explain). That bay window might keep rain from getting to your plants.

-Babka

Thank you very much for all the information from all of you. I have another questions, how does one tell the difference between overwatering and underwatering by looking at a plant? It seems they look similar when either is the case. I have a rose plant and a hydrangea also. I want to learn some of the general rules with plants, I want to be able to tell if a plant needs water or not from the look of it. Ofcourse these are all just pointers until I get a feel of the nature of the plants.

Thanks,
Amir

Your bed looks great, Ken. I don't do anything to mine. I'm in Georgia. I don't add any extra water or fert them. I just keep them out of full sun.

Babka thank you! I grew in pots in LA for a while, but never hosta. Interesting that you let the first few inches go dry. I have a suspicion that your pots are very large.

Amir, the plant looks the same when over watered/underwatered. It wilts when overwatered because rotting roots are unable to bring water/nutrients to the leaves. That is why checking the soil is so helpful. If your plant is wilting and the soil is already wet, you know it might be drowning already and not to water more (p.s. this is the cause of many a houseplant death where someone waters everyday, never checks the soil, the plant starts to wilt because it is drowning and then gets watered even more).

I would suggest using the information on all your plants including the rose and hydrangea. There are dedicated forums for each as well.

I used to have a water meter reader for my house plants back in the day. You can get a soil moisture reader for indoors and outdoors. That might help you get a good idea of the moisture in your soil, Amir.

I agree with Babka that the bay window may limit the amount of rain the area below gets. I have a part of my garden that is next to my house. It took me a while to understand that my house's under hang and my trees allow for little rain to penetrate this area. So I planted a new plant there one year and the following spring there was practically nothing left of it. So now I know to water that area more frequently, and in the late winter and very early spring I throw snow onto it.

A clever idea to use a water meter!

Thanks posierosie. I had to look up the moisture meter to see if you could actually use one outdoors to find out that there were actually outdoor/indoor ones. Amir, if you got one of these (your garden center should have one), then I would suggest you dig around with a trowel and feel the soil with your hands. Then use the soil moisture meter. You will soon be able to get a very good idea of how much moisture is in your soil without the meter.

It is facing East. Around 1, it is covered in Shade.

==>>> this is perfect for hosta.. the idea is for them to be in shade.. during the heat of the day ... they are shade tolerant .. not requiring they be in a cave ...

in the heat of the day ... some just cant pump enough water ... so they dont look good ...

water .. insert finger.. feel wet soil ... do not water again.. until.. under the mulch the soil is dry ... or hot ...

wet soil is usually cool .. one of the jobs of mulch [except black..lol] ... and when the soil is hot.. there is a good chance.. it will be drying in the next day or two ..

frankly .. how it all works in your particular soil.. in your garden.. with your sun. your mulch.. and your weed mat .. can ONLY be figured out.. by you and your finger ...

so even if someone claims to tell you how to do it ... you have to double check their suggestion ...

gardeners.. shouldnt have an aversion .. to getting their hands/fingers dirty ... if you are one of those peeps... well.. you are going to have a hard time with it all ...

when it all boils down.. the reason most of us garden.. is so.. as adults.. we have a reason to play in the dirt ... lol

ken