Watch out for deep overhangs on your home. They can be plant killers due to winter dryness. Even Oregon rain can’t get your plants if under an overhang.

Be careful: dryness under your house’s overhang can kill your new plants over their first winter.

If you have an overhang on the house, your new shrubs will need watering on the back side this first winter to make it.  It will be stone dry back under the overhang.  This means the root system on the back of the plant will suffer unless you intervene.  Once you turn off the irrigation system for the winter season, you will need to hand check your soil in this area under the overhang if you want your plants to survive well through this first winter.  If your designer picked the right plants for this environment and you planted your plants far enough out from the house, future winters will be less of a concern or no concern at all.

Traditionally, heavy rains in the pacific northwest come right around Halloween.  If they don’t, you’ll need to continue watering your new trees and shrubs by hand. Remember, though, perennials go dormant and typically don’t need to be hand watered at that point. Check the soil with your hand behind the shrubs.  Also, new trees are especially venerable to dry winters regardless of where they are planted.  Check your new trees to ensure the soil is moist down a few inches.  Hand water if it is moist.  Call your designer if you are not sure.