When to water

I've been mulching with wood chips really heavily for the last few years and I'm getting some really nice organic matter built up in certain areas.  I mulched 2 areas very heavily (12" or more) in the fall/spring and now that we're in summer I'm starting to wonder when I should be watering.  The plants are acting like they need water but when I dig down even 1" it's soaked still.  Is it possible that I'm confusing heat stress with water stress?  Without the chips I was watering at least once a week.  Now I'm letting it go for weeks and wondering if I should be adding more water or just letting it dry out.  

I would dig down until you are beneath the wood chips into the soil, and another inch or two down.  If it's damp, it doesn't need water.  

That sounds good to me. It eliminates the problem of the chips being wet and the soil being dry. I’ll do that in a few spots this weekend to get a feel for the moisture levels

I am in that timeframe (100 degrees f) where plants just wilt in the heat of the day, regardless of moisture in soil.

Yeah we had a few days recently that were near 100F. I think I’m confusing heat stress with lack of water but I’ll confirm this weekend

Ok I dug down to the soil and yeah it’s fairly dry. There’s a ton of water trapped in the wood chips but the soil seems to have dried out a bit. I’m really looking forward to the organic matter content in the soil rising to a level where it stays moist. It’s only a matter of time 😊