Reticulation - watering your garden
There are many ways to water your garden:
- Fill a bucket, gently flood each plant
- Use a hose, gently
- Run some drippers from a pipe to each plant and then turn on the tap.
- Have the drippers turn off after a time with a tap timer
- You can also have sprays instead of drippers
- You can also use lawn sprinklers
- Always make sure the water is getting to where it is needed – the base and root system of the plant
- Water early in the morning – in the hot months young plants may need watering twice a day.
- Vegies need watering every day however most plants need a good deep watering 1 - 2 times a week instead of a light watering every day. This helps good deep root growth.
If you go away for some time, or have a large garden with several beds and some fruit trees you may need an automatic reticulation system to ensure you get the best results. The simpler the reticulation system, the less problems you will have. Your system will depend on the water pressure. The system will have a simple computer that will turn on and off electric taps (solenoid valves). Remember to turn the reticulation system off when it rains and back on when the rain stops. Veggie gardens will need watering every day during the summer months. Fruit trees and native trees and shrubs prefer a drip system, either in-line or octopus sprayers. Because Pindan/Black soil turns to mush when really wet, a simple spray system on risers that water in the morning is best.
If you have an automatic watering system check it at least twice a week to make sure it is working properly - the soil should be damp but not too wet.
