Martin Pentreath wrote:
Hi,

I've decided to grasp the nettle this year and put in an automatic
watering system, mainly to keep things ticking over when I'm away
without having to bother anyone else.

It's a small urban garden: small lawn (about 5m x 3m) surrounded by
beds with some pots and planters on the patio (and possibly some
window boxes to be included). Anyway, I've just had a look online at
the Gardena "Micro Drip" irrigation system (which seems quite
expensive). Any comments - does its quality justify the expense, or
can I do it better cheaper?

Cheers!

Martin

I have used Gardena in the past. I now use Draper and Hozelock.

My original Gardena "water computer" (model 2030) was brilliant. I bought
it in 1988, and it lasted 11 years before playing up. Then I got another 4
years use after dismantling it and cleaning the valve. Its replacement,
model C1030, started playing up after 18 months. I got it working a couple
of times, but I had to replace it after another year.

In the meantime, I used a Hozelock (front garden) and replaced the Gardena
with a Draper (back garden). Both have worked without problem, although I
could not use them for nearly 2 years because of a hosepipe ban. Both were
much cheaper than Gardena. The only minor downside is that whereas the
Gardenas were silent, both the other timers use very noisy motorised valves.
You most certainly won't miss them going on and off!

You will have to clean the drip heads now and again, whether they are fixed
or variable, and check that the variable ones haven't changed their drip
rate after a time. They will do this if the water pressure changes. And it
will - from either a fall in mains pressure or a change in the motorised
valve flow (maybe from a partially blocked filter). I also find that
whatever make of pressure flow reducer (from mains to something the drip
system likes) I use, it tends to leak a bit.

It takes a time to get everything set up, but it is worth it. I set mine up
to water twice a day - 7am and 7pm for 20 minutes. You can go on holiday
and not worry about your pots drying out. And it saves a surprising amount
of time. When we had the hose ban on, it took between 30 and 45 minutes,
and up to 20 watering-cans of 8 litres to do all the pots. Good exercise,
though!

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)