I am undergoing a total landscaping project for my home in NJ and need advice.?

I have several large specimen plants installed and a mix of hollies, laurels, Colorado blue spruce 12', thunder pine 8', and a mix of shade plants ie hostas, plum yews, bleeding hearts and hydrangeas.

How often will I need to water them for them to establish and since I am new at this, what else is pertinent to know. This is being installed professionally, but having been burnt before by a "professional", I wanted other opinions.

Thank you for any insight!

I am undergoing a total landscaping project for my home in NJ and need advice.?
As you know, we have been very dry in New Jersey.



The big plants (trees) are going to need quite a bit of water this year. I would say you will have to water them very deeply once a week through Sept or Oct unless we get a few days in a row of rain on any given week.



Generally, the recommendation is to put your hose on a low stream and allow it to run into the ground around the base of the plant for an hour or so. Of course some of this depends on how big the plant is and what type but most evergreen trees will do well their first year with this type of watering.



When you water, make sure that it is actually soaking into the ground around the tree and not running off down the sidewalk or into the lawn. You can also check how deep the water is draining by sticking a trowel in the dirt (or your hand) and seeing if it comes out of the ground wet (like checking your car's oil). You want the soil to be wet for at least 6" and the deeper the better.



As for the hosta - they are very tough plants. Once a week would ensure that they stay around but if you neglected them a bit it would not be as big a deal as if you neglect the trees.



I love bleeding hearts but you should know (if you don't already) that they don't stay around all summer. Unless you have fern leaf bleeding heart (in other words, if you have old fashioned bleeding heart also called dicentra), the plant will probably die back to the ground in June or July. It will come back again next spring and be beautiful - it just doesn't like the heat of the summer.



Hydrangeas are also fairly hardy here but I would give them a once a week very deep drink too for their first year and then in times of drought after that.



The key to watering is to do it so that the plant gets one really super good soaking to help it move it's roots down into the soil where it can reach groundwater and other water by itself (eventually). Watering in short spurts every day or every other day encourages plants to keep its roots near the surface of the soil and, therefore, not be as adaptable as it should be to drought, cold weather and wind.



In my opinion, you should make sure that you get a very specific list of plants from your landscaper so that you can google them in the future. Hydrangeas, especially, come in several "classes" - some need to be pruned in the spring in order to bloom again the next year; some only bloom on wood (stems) that are 2 years or older so you need to prune selectively; some allow pruning at any time and bloom on "new" wood - so you can see why you would want to know exactly what you have.



Your project sounds very exciting and I think it will probably hook you into gardening - think about joining your local garden club - those folks are always looking to share their own plants and gardens and are always a wealth of knowledge.



Good luck!