Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article , NC wrote:
Water will indeed pass right through as long as you give it room to do
so. I was thinking of pebbles or stones deflecting it off and into the
surrounding grass. Putting a length of pipe or your cut off bottle
into the ground and watering through that is a really good solution and
is something used a good deal in places where water is in short supply.
When I lived in Jersey, many jobbing gardeners were Portuguese from
Madeira and they employed that method quite often.

OK - understood. I'll give that a go. How deep should I bury the pipe /
bottle ??

6" for those - deeper for larger shrubs and trees.

However, it really isn't worth the effort in most of the UK. Once
those climbers get their roots down, they will not be worried about
anything except unusually long, dry spells. They do NOT need (and
will not appreciate) frequent watering - just soak them well when
the soil gets dry 2" down until they get established, and then do
it only occasionally in extreme conditions.

That technique is seriously beneficial in Madeira, but probably
pretty marginal even in Jersey. It doesn't do any harm, anywhere,
so it is worth doing if it has any advantage (like reducing mess).
Note that it works in two ways: saving water by putting it right
in the middle of the root ball, and reducing evaporation (which is
the aspect that is almost irrelevant here).

With care, my guess is that you might save 30% in the UK, compared
with 70% in Madeira. Without considerable care, it will only reduce
splashing and not save water.

Anything that saves water has to be a Good Thing. As the population
increases and our demands for domestic water increase, we place a
strain not just on the natural supply of water itself but on the land
which might need to be taken for creating reservoirs. Although I
doubt those Madeiran gardeners thought of it at the time, they were
indeed doing their bit for water conservation in Jersey. The island
has no rivers and only insignificant streams. There are underground
water sources but their volume is variable, AIUI. In the 1980s there
was a vociferous argument and a great deal of controversy over the need
to flood one of the island's most beautiful valleys to make a new
reservoir. It was in fact, the site of Bergerac's home in the first
series! The island was the first place in Britain to have a
desalination plant, since replaced by a Reverse Osmosis plant. It also
has a considerable increase in population since the 70s, in terms of
residents and tourists in summer, though the latter has fallen off
somewhat in recent years. With a resident population of about 85,000,
and an affluent one at that, demanding use of dishwashers, washing
machines, two or three bathrooms per house etc., even the humble
tube-beside-the-tree has its place.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk