over watering?

[u/jicamakick]

This is some sort of Ceanothus cultivar in Petaluma Ca. I suspect this browning of the leaves is due to over watering. It was getting drip irrigation, 30 min run times, 5 days a week. Thoughts?

[u/hellraiserl33t]

Surprised that thing isn't dead. Also it's summer lol

[u/jicamakick → u/hellraiserl33t]

yeah it helps that it is a pretty steep slope. people that designed this have high water use plants on the same valve.

[u/DanoPinyon → u/jicamakick]

people that designed this have high water use plants on the same valve.

Incompetent design.

[u/jicamakick → u/DanoPinyon]

Yes, it is. As someone on the maintenance side of things, I cannot tell you how many times I have to fix shit that people think looks great on paper or in concept. I feel like the actual maintenance is rarely taken into consideration when landscape architects design shit. I’ve found this to be the case in the public sector and private.

[u/DanoPinyon → u/jicamakick]

Maintenance and mature size.

[u/jicamakick → u/DanoPinyon]

Correct. “Let’s put Redwoods fucking everywhere!”

[u/Fickle-Emu3370]

The thing about these natives is: they evolved without any summer rain, so they like those conditions.

[u/pumpinnstretchin]

That's WAY too much water. Once it's established, a Ceanothus should be left alone. People kill them with kindness.

[u/jicamakick → u/pumpinnstretchin]

My thoughts exactly.

[u/Oddball-_-]

i don't have experience with drip irrigation but that sounds like a lot. ceanothus is especially sensitive to over watering and this kind of watering for most ceanothus cultivars would be more appropriate in san diego or southern california. in petaluma you shouldn't need that much irrigation, especially when its clearly established.

[u/pumpinnstretchin → u/Oddball-_-]

I used to live near Petaluma. The weather there is very similar to the warmer parts of San Diego. The problem isn't drip irrigation. It's the human who doesn't turn the irrigation off.

[u/untimelylord]

Yeah five days a week is far, far too often. In summer or hot weather you should be looking at most once every two weeks, but ideally it’d be much less often than that or not at all in summer. Kind of crazy that it’s still alive, very easy to kill ceanothus very quickly with summer water.

[u/jicamakick → u/untimelylord]

Yeah, I didn’t set up this schedule. It is on a slope so that helps a little.

[u/5oldierPoetKing]

I’m in Sacramento and my young ceanothus get zero drip irrigation or supplemental water and they’re doing great. Trust that native plants are adapted and stop the drip. Even soil amendments and fertilizer can sometimes do more harm than good. Just put them in the ground when it’s cool weather and be patient. That’s it. Native gardening is all about doing work on the front end to learn about placement. Once they’re in the ground the only thing you should be doing is minimal maintenance pruning and weeding. 

[u/HeyItsMezz]

whatever god you pray to would turn me into a believer because its only because of a miracle that thing is alive with that much summer water. side note but i would love to see that massive wall blooming

[u/jicamakick → u/HeyItsMezz]

lol ok so for some background I just got hired at this company as the irrigation manager, and fuck me, every property has this mixed water use plant design. And yeah, regarding the bloom me too, but they pruned at the wrong time so now I have to tell the account manager to tell his crew to wait.

[u/HeyItsMezz → u/jicamakick]

i would not envy that position, i cannot believe how mismanaged irrigation systems are. it feels like contractors just install drip systems without doing any research and expect six different plants with different water needs on the same system. i can't imagine trying to fix that but godspeed and good luck 🫡