Sundrops grows well in Inland Empire gardens in areas of full sun and with low amounts of summer water. The chart shown below provides a recommended baseline guide to the monthly irrigation schedule and volume of supplemental water needed to maintain healthy growth throughout the average year. It should be noted there are several months indicated by an asterisk (*) when winter rains can provide sufficient moisture and irrigation is not needed. The high and low range of moisture indicates it can grow with varying amounts of water and you should make irrigation adjustments based on field observations of growth and character. Understory leaf litter should be allowed to dry out in between periodic summer watering to avoid excessive growth and disease problems.
|
Jan* |
Feb* |
Mar* |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov* |
Dec* |
Runs per Month |
0x to 2x |
0x to 2x |
0x to 2x |
1x |
1x |
1x |
1x |
1x |
1x |
1x |
0x to 2x |
0x to 2x |
Inches per Run |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
|
Inches per Month |
0″ to 2″ |
0″ to 2″ |
0″ to 2″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
0″ to 2″ |
0″ to 2″ |
Range of supplemental summer water: 7"
Range of supplemental winter water: 0"-10"
|
0″-2″ |
0″-2″ |
0″-2″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
1″ |
0″-2″ |
0″-2″ |
|
Jan* |
Feb* |
Mar* |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov* |
Dec* |
For more information on how to use this Irrigation Schedule and Graph, follow this link.
For information how to calculate your irrigation system’s schedule and precipitation rate, please follow this link.
Trim to edge around borders or if it is growing too far into paths anytime of the year (D). Plants are usually evergreen year-round in our climate, but do look semi-dormant in the coldest part of the year. Branches may die back if there are cold nights with frost, but the plant will re-emerge when the weather warms up. Ideally, cut back plants hard, nearly to the ground, in early spring to stimulate vigorous new growth (10). Larger plantings can be sheared (S). If desired, planted can be lightly “tipped back” (lightly pruned at branch tips) when flowers fade to stimulate new growth and more abundant flowers (10).
References