The days are growing longer, the air is slowly warming and there’s been little rain recently, though February is traditionally the wettest month of the year.

Pay attention to what your garden is telling you about its water needs. Gardeners, stay vigilant!

Before the heat and dry air of spring and summer, update your irrigation system to in-line drip.

In-line drip systems are flexible tubing with emitters embedded inside the lines. These systems are the most efficient and easiest to maintain. In-line drip laid out as a grid over the entire planting bed wets soil evenly and deeply to encourage deep, drought-resistant roots. Narrower-gauge in-line drip is designed for vegetable gardens; wider gauge works for ornamental garden beds and fruiting trees and shrubs.

Stroll your garden with an eye toward projects that would make your garden prettier, more welcoming, more artistic or just more fun.

Nan Sterman is a garden designer and writer and host of “A Growing Passion” on KPBS television. For more information, visit agrowingpassion.com and waterwisegardener.com.

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