Planting Without Irrigation System or Additional Watering (maintenance, live in)

[Mossa]

Ok, my good Southwest Washington people. Here is the question. If regular things like let's say blueberry, raspberry, currant, gooseberry bushes, or ornamental shrubs, or perennials are planted in an area that has no irrigation system and is not going to get watered other than by grace of God and weather, will they wither and die in the reality of your climate?

[texasdiver]

A lot of that kind of stuff will do fine once it gets established. The first year or two you may have to do supplemental watering until they get established and develop good roots, and also keep the slugs, rabbits, and deer away. It's not just the watering though. Soil, drainage, mulch, sun/shade are also factors.

Pay attention to the kinds of things that professional landscapers plant in traffic medians and commercial areas where they don't get regular care or watering. They know what works well around here and can't afford to waste their time and money with fussy high-maintenance plants.

[StealthRabbit]

A lot depends on your soils.. and size of your plants, terrain and shade. (and adjacent plants / competition for sun and water)

I had a commercial berry farm and we still had to irrigate for best yields, Raspberries are mounded and not drought tolerant and they bear / ripen every 3 days (which requires lots of water)

Our Blueberries and bushy / tree like plants are much more drought tolerant but need heavy mulch. (shallow broad roots)

For perspective... Our Raspberries were ~ 9' to 12' tall, 3/4" diameter stalks 6 - 8 in clumps every 2 ' (We had 5 acres of them)
Blueberries ~ 8' tall and 8' Dia canopy. We get about 200 # off the 8 plants we still have (They are over 100 yrs old)

SWWA has some idea growing soils (Silty Loam). I WISH I could get some of the 20,000T of dredging material that will come out of Columbia River!!!

You can get a 'soils map' and all the info you can digest from WSU County Extension office or Master Gardeners.
https://extension.wsu.edu/clark/master-gardeners/
https://extension.wsu.edu/clark/community-education/

[Mossa]

Thank you, guys. I was thinking if a plant is planted some time in the fall, like let's say November, it would probably establish itself enough to survive the next summer. But if something is planted let's say in August, it would probably die without extra water?

Stealth, mostly the soil I saw there is sort of brown. Not sure if it is good. Turns to this kind of claish mud when wet. Shouldn't good soil be black? This deep analysis tells you something about my level of expertise.

[182pilot]

Don't plant in August. Definitely better off planting in Fall. For some things it won't alleviate the need to water during hot spells in the summer months but at least they won't be dead within a week of planting.

[StealthRabbit]

best success is planting shrubs Dec - early March. At my elevation (risk of winter wind and freezing rain) I usually transplant in mid Feb.

Prune at least 1/3rd off to give it more chance to survive.
Also do plantings near dusk, or in early morning to avoid shock / risk of drying out roots.

Mound the center of excavation so there is not a void under the plant
Sprinkle a rooting mixture / peat moss + bone meal on roots or in soil before back-filling.

You can transplant in summer if you must, but... it takes a lot of water and plant will likely be stunted back a couple yrs in growth. For seedlings (tree starts). best to get something knee high or smaller. Bigger stuff is at too big of a risk of dying within first 3 yrs.

Drip irrigation is handy for first 3 - 5 yrs (for a tree).
alternatively, take a 5 gal plastic pail and drill ~ 20 small holes in a 180 degree pattern on perimeter for a 'drip system', Fill pail a couple times / week in summer.

[Mossa]

Thank you guys. The goal is not to water after planting. Will try late fall early winter.

[182pilot]

Just be glad you didn't plant this past fall. We planted a ton in early October and the rains never came. It was crazy how little rain we got from October through December.

[texasdiver]

I just gotta say. You live in SW Washington and are wondering if berries will grow without attention?

Seems like I spent half my energy trying to get them NOT to grow!

[Mossa]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

I just gotta say. You live in SW Washington and are wondering if berries will grow without attention?

Seems like I spent half my energy trying to get them NOT to grow!

Sorry, texasdiver, I don't live there. Just visit often and am very interested in the area. It's beautiful.

That's what I thought after reading and hearing from people. Seems like they can't stop things from growing. So, I thought with that amount of rain and climate things should be able to fend for themselves. Could be wrong.