Picture this .. you’ve had a long day at work and you come home, only to have to sort the kids out, cook food and get things ready for tomorrow. Just as you sit down you remember that you haven’t watered the garden yet ….. Doh!
During the summer months it is imperative that you water your garden both in the morning and at night to maintain a beautiful healthy garden. Over-watering however can be just as detrimental to your plants as under-watering.
How much water your garden will require is dependent on many things;
Soil type
A garden with sandy soil will require longer watering on a more frequent basis than a garden where the soil is clay, as clay soil is prone to waterlogging and holding water.
Humidity
Humidity of the air will vary both seasonally and also day to day. When air humidity is low, transpiration will increase.
Shade and Plant Density
Different areas of the garden will require different levels of watering dependent on whether they are in the sun or the shade. Plants which are in the sun will require watering for a longer period of time. Also areas in you garden densly populated with plants will require more water saturation than other areas.
Flow of water
When watering your garden the flow of water must be fine enough not to damage your plants and the pressure not high enough to cause a run on your soil.
Watering Solutions
The good old watering can with an attachment on the spout is a fantastic devise for controlling the flow of water on to your plants. This method has been used for many years and is fantastic if you have a couple of pots or window boxes to attend to and oodles of time. Watering by hand is labour intensive and can be highly impractical if your garden is large and time is precious. Automatic watering system’s can help iradicate these problems and after the initial set up can leave you with many a free evening to enjoy your garden in it’s full beauty.
Some of the automatic watering systems available:-
Lawn pop-up sprinklers
These are simple to install and remove any requirement for you to ever have to reel out your garden hose to connect to a sprinkler. These devices are installed into the ground and pop up under pressure. There are a variety of shapes and sizes currently on the market and the pop-up sprinklers can range from being a simple 360 degree sprinkler to a strip or even a square nozzle system. The pop-up sprinkler can be timer controlled.
Drip irragation system
This is another labour free option which enable you to water large areas of your garden at the same time efficiently. The flow of water and pressure are extremely controlled. This method has been proven to save on the amount of water given to your garden as the water is slowly dripped to your plants directly in the root zone.
PlantPal
As well as using this in your garden it can be used for indoor plants as well. The plantpal is a small reservoir placed in with your plant. You simply fill the reservoir with water and the plant will take water from this devise if and when it needs to. Plantpal comes with an indicator to let you know when refilling is required. This product is great for hanging baskets and will look after your pots and baskets when your away on holiday. However it is worth noting this product alone would be insufficent in keeping a large garden with lawns properly watered.
Hope this helps .. Gardener Jack 😉
Happy Gardening
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