Well not all of them – not that I have that many worries, but I have been deeply concerned about the upcoming summer and the need to keep my garden hydrated.
The first spot of good news is my laptop has been fixed – under warrantee and I have a brand new motherboard, whatever that does. But it must be pretty important or they’d have called it a fatherboard! It is so good to have all my stuff back in one place!
But back to the water issue. You may recall (click here) I spent a great deal and time and effort last summer trying to figure out how to automatically water my garden without having to lift a finger. I drew maps using online irrigation calculators. I measured my water flow with buckets and I even went to the trouble of getting myself wet in the process.
I learnt that I could fill an 8L bucket in 27 seconds which gives me a water pressure of 16L per minute. This is after four 30 metre hoses deliver the water from the tap to my garden! I still don’t know if this is good or bad, but I really should find out or ask someone as it seems to be pretty important when seeking the right irrigation solution. I also discovered the system I was looking at was well beyond my financial means and possibly that of a small island nation.
So I gave up and went back to my old system. A wind up manual timer on my hose set for fifteen minutes. And then I set the timer on my phone and when it beeped I moved my hose into another bed and reset all the timers. Bearing in mind I have 30 beds. This can take all day and is rather annoying to be interrupted every 15 minutes. But the thing is I can’t just have one or two big sprinklers taking care of the lot because some plants don’t like to be watered from above because they will get blight, downy mildew or some other nasty lurgy. And of course I really don’t want to be wasting my water spraying it about willy nilly.
So I set myself up with a wee rotation system where the garden was divided into 6 groups and each one got watered deeply once a week. My swamp soil is wonderful. It takes that water and hangs on tight, like a big giant sponge. And it worked well enough – well until the summer holidays…
My wonderfully un-gardener house sitter was under strict instructions on how to water the garden, however her holiday was plagued with an alarm every 15 minutes. “Come and stay in the country” we said. “It would be relaxing” we said. I don’t think she wants to come back this summer.
So I need a solution. And today I saw something that made my heart skip a beat. Oh my goodness it was amazing. And of all the products there were to see it was this that caught my eye and instantly became my latest must have. It has been only been 3 hours since I set eye on this wonderful thing and I have already told people it is my new favourite thing. My birthday isn’t until October. I couldn’t possibly wait that long. I must have it now. The problem is it isn’t out yet… I must wait.. I shall count the days.
This thing you may ask? – well let me tell you… It is the latest, and in my opinion greatest product of the new Gardena product range! I was lucky enough to have been invited to come and see their 2014 Garden Innovations and it was there I set my eyes on the Water Distributor Automatic. But this is no ordinary watering system – it is for fully automatic control of up to 6 watering accessories! Hooked into one of their new timers I can set and forget each group in my garden. Pure genus.
Having solved this watering delivery dilemma, I just have to fine tune things at the other end to apply the water onto the actual garden – but I’m on to it!
I must be a unique individual be excited about hoses, but the good people at Gardena are about so much more – there are things for my grass. I think it would be stretching it to say my lawn… and gardening tools, so many lovely gardening tools. Oh you should have seen them! So now I am home from the excitement of it all I shall sit down with brochures and add many great things to my wish list while enjoying the lovely muffin they gave me to take home. Thank you so much Gardena for inviting me.
Come again soon – I only have 4 beds to go and the garden is clear of all trace of weeds. I have never been this spring ready before ever!
Sarah the Gardener : o )
Great post … that looks like a ‘must have’!
Hi Julie. I think the hose attachment is more than a ‘must have’ I think it is an ‘I need to have’!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Ooooo I want one 😀
Hi Elaine.
I Know!!!! How cool is that!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Reblogged this on Linda's wildlife garden and commented:
AWESOME THANK YOU FOR SHARING HAVE A BLESSED DAY
Is your pressure adequate to have one of those stations feed soaker hoses for the plants not suited to overhead? Since the beds are pretty close, you could probably serve multiple beds in one station (maybe even spliced with regular hose for the in-betweens.)
Hi There.
I really think I need get some kind of expert come and help me. I’m pretty much flying blind here as I have know idea. The more I look into irrigation the more confused I get! I have figured out reducing the diameter of the hose will increase the pressure so I may just need to put my hand up somewhere and say ‘help……’
Cheers Sarah : o )
I have to admit, it is a little strange to me as I read of you anticipating spring when I am in the dead of summer. 🙂 I can identify with spring fever though! I know that it is hard to wait!
HI Sarah. Spring is about a month away and I am so excited. There are plenty of daffodils and there is that lovely spring fragrance beginning to waft through the air. I shall be planting my first seeds of the season in a couple of days. It is always a momentous time. I’m starting to get a bit excited.
Cheers Sarah : o )
HAHAHAHA! Love the hose vase and am somewhat alarmed by the daffodil as you guys are a month ahead of us but I have daffies too! Even though it is HISSING down raining on the roof at the moment (and I dare say elsewhere on Serendipity Farm but I am sitting under the roof at the moment so can’t help but be aware…) I am hoping that like last year, this is the beginning of our new rainy season. We had no rain most of winter up till the end of July last year and then suddenly it started to rain…and rain…and RAIN…and it didn’t stop officially till November when it suddenly stopped and didn’t start again till late April. I think Gardena have been testing their watering devices on Northern Tassie…if so guys “can you turn on the system say mid-Summer? Cheers!” 😉
Hi Fran. I had such a lovely time. But we are definitely moving into the gearing up for spring phase of winter. The is so much to do, but it is all exciting stuff and even the air smells fresh and ready for change. Then it rains for days and you are all like “why is that happening – it shouldn’t be happening?’ only to remember it is still bloomin winter! But not for long!!!
Have a fab week. Cheers Sarah : o )
Ditto Ms Sarah and here’s hoping we get a nice long warm summer (not too hot) with nice periods of rain interspersed…and pigs grow wings and fly! 😉 Back to the old drawing board for US! 😉
Interesting, just lost half of my comment there! Makes NO sense but I was being witty and the witty bit disappeared…Wordpress obviously didn’t like my joke “EVERYONE IS A CRITIC!” sigh…
Sometimes my best work is the stuff that never leaves my head – and it is probably best for everyone that way! I’m not sure everyone gets ‘witty’
I am with you there 😉
Well done, Sarah! That is a cool gadget, and looks to be the solution to your watering chores.
I love your clever hose vase. What a fun idea.
Well done on the bed clearing. That must be such a good feeling. Hurray for spring.
Hi Alys. I can’t wait to get my hands on an automatic waterer. That would be so cool.
I can’t take credit for the hose vase. They were on all the tables at the event I went to. But they looked so stylish.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Oh how clever of them. Well then I’m glad you brought one home. It was the perfect accent to your post.
Ready for spring before it arrives! Color me green with envy.
Hi there. I seem to have so much going on that I need to be organised this year. Normally the arrival of the first daffodil makes me think about getting started and in the end I am preparing the beds so fully grown seedlings can go in. Often they have to wait for me to make their beds!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Automatic watering is so nice to have. My husband rigged some up in the poly tunnel last summer and it was so great!
Hi there. That must be so lovely to have automatic watering. I would have so much freedom in summer if I wasn’t tied to the hose most of the time! I hope you have a fabulous summer season this year.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Yeah it’s great, now I just need it in the main garden!