This winter I realized I was not getting enough water into the ground during the winter so that my irrigation was only surface that was why I was having difficulty. I read some detailed info on water needs of garden plants and saw I needed to get at least my normal rail fall in the ground as a base to begin with.

 This spring I started with the cherry trees. And I sculptured individual basins at each tree and created an over flow with in the larger basin. I calculated the area and how much water I would need to reach my 12 inches of rain fall. I timed how long it took to fill a 5 gal bucket and then watered each area timing it. I watered several times in the spring when the ground was not frozen. Now I had water in the ground it froze each night but most evenings it had thawed so I could add more water. When I reached the 12 inches I planted a ground cover of cereal rye and vetch in early spring added some compost and light mulch.

I dug a 2^nd pond basin along the West drive and planted my nursery trees and vines in it so I could keep them watered till I created the place I had planed for them

I double dug the north and north west basins and created small berms and over flows  and planted a later cover crop. By then it was getting hot and dry and no rain or snow. I irrigated. I was not sure if it would come up.

Result was the cherry trees and hawthorn trees and service berry trees that survived along with the cover crop did beautify.