This is really a pretty basic question. But my wife and I are a little new at this, having bought our first house a year ago. We're doing our best to renovate our yard, which was pretty neglected by the previous owners.
In our front yard, we have an ancient-looking but previously vigorous rhododendron, and nearby (about 6-8 feet away) I planted a fairly young (~5 feet tall) emerald green arborvitae last October. Both looked nice and green last year.
This spring, we've planted various other small flowers and grasses in the same area, following the instructions provided for spacing and watering. I've also given these flowers some all-purpose Miracle-Gro (again, diluted according to the instructions and given no more than once every two weeks) and I've thrown some "Holly Care" fertilizer around the tree and rhododendron, which are supposed to like that particular fertilizer (it's for acid-loving evergreens.) As the temperature has warmed up, though, both the tree and the rhododendron have started turning brown and losing some leaves. The rhododendron actually started growing a new layer of leaves on top, but all of these have now turned brown from the outer edge, with the rest of the leaf being a pale green. The older leaves seem to be ok so far, it's the new leaves that are looking pretty sad. The arborvitae is browning from the bottom, but I swear the rest of it also looks a little thin compared to when I got it.
The other plants in that area are too new for me to really judge how well they're doing; some do seem to be doing better than others, though.
We've had some weird weather in the past month or two here in the Northeast; it was bitterly cold for a while, then we had some torrential rains (like 4 inches in one day, for two days). Because it rained so hard for a while, I didn't water at all for about 10 days. That's when I started noticing the browning, and the soil was cracking from being so dry on top. I then watered well two days in a row last weekend, but I don't know if that was right or wrong. The soil itself is bone dry on top and never seems to stay wet, but underneath it feels moist (not wet). Keep in mind the rhododendron has been in that spot for years, and done well, so I don't think the soil itself is the problem.
My problem is I don't really know how much is a "normal" amount of water. My wife and I have actually been having some mini-arguments about it; she thinks that unless there's a drought, you don't really water at all because all of these things grew in the wild at some point. I think she's wrong, and in fact all the plants she tries to grow herself end up dead. (I of course point this out every time we talk about this.) I usually water trees once a week, and other plants a couple times a week.
So does it sound like we're overdoing it or underdoing it? How often should we be watering? (And maybe more important - who is right, me or my wife?)
Thanks...
Jeff