Realized I was overwatering my native plants for a full season

Had a patch of milkweed and goldenrod that kept looking sad. Limp leaves. Yellowing. I was out there every other day with the hose. Neighbor walked by and said 'you know those things grow in ditches right?' Hit me like a brick. Ditches. They get rain and that's it. Cut back to once a week. Everything perked up in like 10 days. Has anyone else killed plants with too much kindness?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wyatt27d ago

Used to be the type who thought all plants needed constant babysitting with the hose. That neighbor comment about ditches really shifted something in my brain. Now I just leave my coneflowers and black-eyed susans alone unless we go two weeks without rain. The ones I watered less actually had way bigger blooms last summer than the ones I babied. It's wild how a minute of conversation can save you months of killing stuff with kindness.

alice891mo ago

Started overwatering my sedum last spring. Same thing, leaves went yellow and mushy. I thought I was being helpful but I was literally drowning them. Read somewhere that most native plants have deep roots and actually prefer to dry out between waterings. So I stopped completely for two weeks just to see what would happen. They bounced back so fast it was almost embarrassing. Now I only water when the soil is bone dry a couple inches down. The neighbor comment about ditches really sticks with you once you hear it.

river3201mo ago

My sedum thrives on neglect and has actually died from less water than that, not more.