Watering new plants in the ground, advice needed please

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I planted up a large border recently with perennials. I watered them in well on planting then every few days initially til I saw new growth. Should I continue to water them irregularly or leave them to it? We've not had rain here for around 2-3 weeks and the ground seems quite dry. A couple of the Russian sage (perovskia) plants which get a lot of sun are losing their colour and there are brown tips on some of the persicaria leaves. Are they thirsty?

Depends, where are you and how mature are they? Could easily be frost damage if you’re in the Uk and they are young.

South East. We've had a couple of mild frosts overnight since but quite sheltered as near the coast. Put in 4 weeks ago. They were in 9cm pots initially and have all put in quite good growth (doubled in size at least).

I'd water them, it's been so dry.

I'm watering everything newly planted around every 3 days. Just feel the soil around the plant to check if it's damp

Thank you. Given them a good water this evening. I didn't want to overwater as had read this can encourage shallow roots but it has been very dry for a while now, albeit is dewy in the morning.

It's really dry - we've had no rain here for some time and anything in the ground that's new is getting a long soaking once a week.

I’m in Yorkshire, and it’s been so dry here that the primroses are wilting.

If the soil’s not too hard, try checking for dampness about an inch below the surface. It’s surprising how much water it takes to penetrate beyond the top half inch

When you water I would focus on giving the soil a really good soak. Walk down the length with the hose saturating the ground, then walk back along it again. If you have any material to mulch with, adding this will help prevent water loss from the soil through evaporation. At this stage, shallow rooting isn't your main concern, getting enough water to your establishing plants is more important. As they are showing new growth, they will be expanding their root systems at the same time.

A really good soak once or twice a week will be far more beneficial than a lighter sprinkling every day. You're unlikely to be overwatering at the moment, I've never known it be so dry in April and can't recall ever having to get the hose on the ground plants in April before

Brilliant, thank you all. Let's hope I've not done too much damage not watering as much as I should've been.

Could I use the well-rotted horse manure I bought on Monday as a mulch, or would it be too rich?

Our soil is chalky, so relatively thin and poor.

Were you planning to dig the manure in? It'll probably do more good that way if your soil is is poor. You can use all sorts of things as a mulch like grass clippings, eventually with rain and worm action it will end up being incorporated into the top layer of soil anyway. It's all good!

Thanks, @TheNoodlesIncident. If using grass cuttings, do you just spread freshly-cut grass onto the soil? It's been so windy here, I can imagine it just blowing everywhere.

You can do, and water it well if it's windy. Grass clippings will break down relatively quickly (compared to bark chippings for example) and they are rich in nitrogen too, which plants use to develop leaf growth.

Grass clippings are also organic matter, which improves soil by helping water retention without being claggy.

Another tip if you have reasonable soil when planting is to fill the planting hole up to the brim with water, allow it to soak into the surrounding soil then fill it again and soak in again, then plant the rootball of your plant. That way the water is at the root level where it needs to be, roots are encouraged to grow down and into the damp soil, and the water won’t evaporate in the sun.

Don’t do this if you have really heavy claggy clay soil as then your plants will just sit in a puddle