Even cacti need a drink now and then. Get watering right and your whole garden perks up. Get it wrong and you’re just wasting water and annoying your plants.

• Timing is everything. Early morning or late afternoon are golden hours—cool enough to let plants sip rather than gasp. At midday, they shut up shop, conserving energy, so most of your water evaporates anyway.

• Morning brigade. Watering with the sunrise is not only efficient, it’s like a garden health check with your coffee. Leaves dry quickly, soil gets a good soaking, and mulch (50–75mm thick, please) holds it all in.

• Evening crew. Plants slurp most overnight, but try not to splash the foliage—you’ll just brew fungal diseases.

• How often? Forget daily sprinkles. Go for fewer, deeper soakings so roots grow down instead of hovering near the surface. That way, when drought comes—or you swan off on holiday—your plants cope just fine.

• Lawns are different. Warm-season grasses want about 25mm a week. The tuna-can trick works a treat: run your sprinkler until the tin fills, and you’ll know how long it takes.

• Hot tips. If your lawn’s curling its leaves on a scorcher, give it a light mist—like turning on the air-con. Then follow up with a proper soak later.