Thanks for all the good advices that I have received he

- Choose the plants that will do well in my area: More or less, the
plants in my garden are suitable in my area (zone-6). They all seem to
be doing fine. The only exception is the shasta daisy their leaves
seem to dip very easily under mid-day sun; but they did very well last
winter though. I guess this is a compromise that I need to make.

- Right soil type: The top soil in my garden is rich soil. But one
feet down is sandy soil. I guess this means I "may" need to water more
often - But wait...

- Put mulch: Yes, I have already put a lot of cedar mulch in the
garden. I guess, I may not need to water that often after all.

- Use my fingers to check the soil: This makes sense, and I probably
will do this once a week in spring, and twice a week in summer.

My Plan of Action:
Because I am not planning to replace the existing plants and soil,
and I have already mulched. This means the only thing that I should do
is to use my fingers to check soil periodically.

Thanks again for the useful advices.

Jay Chan