In the hot, dry summer weather, it’s easy to be tempted to give the entire garden a good and thorough watering every day to make sure your plants don’t start wilting and dying off. But many of the inhabitants of your garden probably need far less water than you think they do. Find out how often each of the plants, shrubs and trees in your garden actually needs watering and apply accordingly.

Small plants and flowers, together with anything potted, is the most likely to need watering out of all your foliage.

Trees and shrubs generally only need watering in their infancy. Once established, they are more than capable of surviving all but severe drought conditions without being watered. In fact, in some cases, over watering can stunt their development as roots won’t grow as deep into the ground in moist conditions.

In your vegetable patch, only the veg grown for its leaves (eg lettuce or spinach) need particularly frequent watering. Underground veg such as parsnips and potatoes only need watering in the driest of conditions. Most herbs flourish best in dry soil so, again, only need watering in severely dry periods.

In all cases, watering should be aimed at the base of the plant rather than onto the leaves. Water left on the leaves will simply evaporate, rather than being used in any way by the plant itself. Always do your watering in the evening when the sun is down and temperatures have dropped as this will allow more water to soak into the soil and avoid scorching your plants’ foliage.