I’ve spent the last few mornings watering plants in the midst of this all-time record heatwave in our region. When I planted these trees, shrubs, and ferns back in March and April, I took the extra time and effort to mud them in and, where possible, create basins around them to hold water. I’m glad I did. Three months later, prior to my watering the plants, the soil around their bases was still moist to the touch when I probed down an inch or two with my finger. Even if I hadn’t watered them now, they probably would have survived the hot spell. I always expected to water them a few times in the summer; I just didn’t think I’d be starting in June.
Watering is hard work if you can’t reach your plants with a garden hose and have to carry it from the nearest water source. It’s even harder if the soil around the plants is dry and there are no basins to hold the water. When that is the case, you have to basically drip the water on so that it can soak into the ground instead of simply running off on the surface of the soil. Even with moist soil and a basin, I try not to add the water faster than the soil can absorb it.
Before Bellingham garden expert Mitch Blanton convinced me of the importance of mudding in, I always tried to plant in late Fall and early Winter with the idea that over the course of the wet season the plants would be able to establish enough of a root system to make it through the dry season. I was leery of mudding in because I was afraid it would ruin the structure of the soil and create a big solid dirt clod around the roots. I asked Mitch and he agreed that mudding in impairs the soil structure but explained that roots have no trouble penetrating it. I also know that the soil structure is largely ruined anyway simply by digging the planting hole.
Whatever method of planting is used, I know that in the Pacific Northwest it’s necessary to provide plants with some water over the first summer or two to carry them through the dry season. If you are going to have to water the plants then, you may as well mud them in as well, even if you have to carry the water. The benefits of mudding in would seem to outweigh the extra effort involved and the impact to the soil structure. The proof will be in the pudding, but so far, out of the 126 plants I mudded in, I only see a couple that look like they might not make it. Things are looking good, despite the blazing heat.