Ask the Gardener: What's the Simplest Gardening Mistake to Avoid?

Ask the gardener is a column in which local readers send in questions about your garden, lawn, trees and more. 

Plants and grass need water. 

It's a simple statement, something likely learned in elementary school. However, during hot summer months, it's something many novice gardeners forget.  in said the biggest mistake inexperienced gardeners make is under-watering plants and grass during the summer months.

Koenig's Green Houses offered some advice on how to make sure your plants don't die this summer from a lack of water. 

What's the biggest mistake people make during the summer?

Not watering their grass and plants. We hear all the time people say it's been there for years and the rain will get it. Well, even established plants and shrubs need water.

How can you tell, beside the plants being dead, that they need water?

I would say if we don't have rain for a week, then you need to give it some water.

Does it help to have a watering routine? 

Yes. I would say every other day, but it really depends on how much you want to pay. Some people will definitely just let it go. It's just going to depend on how much they want to spend and how much they want to keep alive. A lot of people go with in-ground sprinkler systems, and that you're going to run every other day 15 to 20 minutes. That's a good idea.