When deciding how many trees to plant each season, and how many I envision overall, I have to be honest with myself about whether I will have the time to properly take care of them. With this in mind, I ask for how many years after you put a tree in ground (say a two year graft) do you regularly water it. Not talking about the extra watering during a particularly dry or warm spell, but regular waterings. thanks
Since July precipitation is almost nil where I live and the summer baking isn't significantly alleviated until November most years, I plan on watering non-xerophytic plants indefinitely. There isn't going to be a time when those may not need help. On the other hand, since it's comparatively cool in this region sites with some shade and retentive soils can keep many subjects going without particularly effective watering - dried up lawns bordered by rhododendrons, azaleas, Japanese maples etc. are a common sight here.
it depends on the type of plant/bush/tree; your basic location as well as weather condtitions. even with the zone maps there are still 'micro-climates' that could be rated above or below what the general area is and that will affect things like water requirements. for example, say you have a brick wall around your property and it goes right up to the side of your house. the area right where the wall meets the house would be a micro climate and it would be a bit warmer than the rest of the yard as it won't get the breezes/winds that can bring the temps down. the first summer after i moved into my house had a bad drought as the summer went on. i'd planted quite a few things in the spring and wasn't supposed to be watering them (restrictions were put in place by the state). i did still do watering on just the root areas - just enough every couple of days to keep the plants from dieing. obviously nothing grew well or thrived. and not the next year either - they were just so stunted from all the lack of proper water the previous year. even with extra care they still didn't do much but survive. in the third year things started popping and really looked nice and healthy. under normal circumstances in my area, i should not have needed to provide extra care past the first couple of months and definitely not into the second season. all the things i planted that first spring should have had plenty of time to get roots out and get situated by that first fall. it just wasn't a normal situation! so, lots of variables are in play when you plant things outside. if you're looking for things that will become established fairly quickly your best bet is to plant things that are native to your area. by doing that you won't have to deal with providing extra care to make sure the item gets established. basically you'll be able to plant in spring and water regularly for a couple of months and that should really be it - for plants and bushes. for trees, they usually do need a good year of regular watering for the roots to become well established - and sometimes two years. again, it's a matter of the type as well as the location.
i agre with Ron and Jo ; my experience is limited to the zone 9 ,for my jm watering is i presume for one life...2 or 3 time for week (type species live in japanese mountain near small river,i live in low hill .. )..different for platanoides ,campestre or pseudoplatanus,after 4 years watering once for week,or more,but some jm resist better than another ex.Butterfly ,Fire Glow are good dry resistence(2 time for week),Jonnie's pink,Villa Taranto,have low resistance one puff of hot wind and leaves burned...
