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Old 28-10-2008, 08:58 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Watering Systems

We're considering installing a watering system since our garden area has
grown so large recently. Having studied the layout of the block, we've
decided where the pipes need to go, but which spigots to install for
which plants?

There are weepers and tricklers and sprays and sprinklers and... I dunno!

To my mind, you want to water the soil, not the foliage. Does that mean
only weepers or tricklers will do a decent job? What's the point of
putting in risers with sprays mounted at their tops? And how do you stop
the main pipes from twisting around so the spigotty-things stay put?

HELP! This is a serious post. Please don't joke until you've given me a
starting point!

Thanks, guys. ;-

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 29-10-2008, 12:59 AM posted to aus.gardens
YMC YMC is offline
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Default Watering Systems

Hi,

I guess it depends - in some areas the sprays might be more suitable. You
prevent the pipes from twisting by using u-shaped metal pins to hold them in
place.

You have to keep the pipes above ground - if there is a leak - you want to
know where it is.

Here's an idea though - how about using large PVC pipes - drilling holes
into them - burying them into the ground - and connecting them to the water
supply with a turn off switch (in case of heavy rain).

The idea is that the PVC pipes will slowly leak out the water - and they are
fairly large and not easy to damage.



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Old 29-10-2008, 01:09 AM posted to aus.gardens
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"Trish Brown" wrote in message
...
We're considering installing a watering system since our garden area has
grown so large recently. Having studied the layout of the block, we've
decided where the pipes need to go, but which spigots to install for which
plants?

There are weepers and tricklers and sprays and sprinklers and... I dunno!

To my mind, you want to water the soil, not the foliage. Does that mean
only weepers or tricklers will do a decent job? What's the point of
putting in risers with sprays mounted at their tops? And how do you stop
the main pipes from twisting around so the spigotty-things stay put?

HELP! This is a serious post. Please don't joke until you've given me a
starting point!

Thanks, guys. ;-


Sprayers are good in that you can see what area they cover and adjust them
to fit. They are not so good as they encourage some fungi by wetting
foliage and kicking up spores from the dirt in some cases, they are also
likely to waste some water through evaporation or runoff. Both of the
latter problems can be minimised by not running at high pressure and
monitoring how the soil is taking up water. Risers are to allow you to bury
the pipes and to give greater coverage (especially above mulch) as within
limits the higher the jet the further it will shoot (and be carried by the
wind).

Drippers and soakers don't have the disadvantages of sprayers, you can put
them under the mulch and waste almost nothing. However the water is all
applied at one point so the coverage is dependent on the hydraulic qualities
of your soil. With very sandy soil the water is likely to go downwards and
not spread much away from the source, which may be exactly what you want -
or not. In very clay soil infiltration can be slow but as long as you apply
the water slowly to avoid runoff it will be OK as the water will spread if
supplied slowly It is possible to get dry spots and these can be hard to
notice and you can get plants congregating around the wet spots. Mostly you
can deal with this by some careful study and inserting/removing extra
drippers where required.

Go to an irrigation/sprinkler shop as once they realise you are serious they
will explain much more than the bored student and Bunnings who has no clue.
Take home all the pamphlets and do you sums, arrange your bankloan etc

Try:

http://www.hunterirrigation.com.au/

for a start.

Oh one final tip. Get some extra joiners for the cuts you didn't mean to
make and some plugs for the jets/drippers yopu didn't mean to put in.

David

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Old 29-10-2008, 06:37 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Watering Systems

David Hare-Scott wrote:


Sprayers are good in that you can see what area they cover and adjust
them to fit. They are not so good as they encourage some fungi by
wetting foliage and kicking up spores from the dirt in some cases, they
are also likely to waste some water through evaporation or runoff. Both
of the latter problems can be minimised by not running at high pressure
and monitoring how the soil is taking up water. Risers are to allow you
to bury the pipes and to give greater coverage (especially above mulch)
as within limits the higher the jet the further it will shoot (and be
carried by the wind).

Drippers and soakers don't have the disadvantages of sprayers, you can
put them under the mulch and waste almost nothing. However the water is
all applied at one point so the coverage is dependent on the hydraulic
qualities of your soil. With very sandy soil the water is likely to go
downwards and not spread much away from the source, which may be exactly
what you want - or not. In very clay soil infiltration can be slow but
as long as you apply the water slowly to avoid runoff it will be OK as
the water will spread if supplied slowly It is possible to get dry
spots and these can be hard to notice and you can get plants
congregating around the wet spots. Mostly you can deal with this by
some careful study and inserting/removing extra drippers where required.

Go to an irrigation/sprinkler shop as once they realise you are serious
they will explain much more than the bored student and Bunnings who has
no clue. Take home all the pamphlets and do you sums, arrange your
bankloan etc

Try:

http://www.hunterirrigation.com.au/

for a start.

Oh one final tip. Get some extra joiners for the cuts you didn't mean
to make and some plugs for the jets/drippers yopu didn't mean to put in.

David



Great! Thanks, David! Sounds as though I might be needing drippers
and/or very short risers then. Part of my garden will be devoted to
roses and I'm historical about getting the foliage too wet and causing
awful fungus to take hold. Another part will be for shorter annuals and
some herbs, so p'raps the sprayers will work best there. DH has laid the
majority of the pipework and all I have to do is decide how I'm going to
distribute the water.

(NB. About a hundred years ago, they were selling out watering kits at
KMart or somewhere. They cost hardly anything - $5, I think - so I
bought about half-a-dozen, thinking to water my Mum's yard *really*
well! LOL! Instead, I went back to Uni and the half-dozen kits went up
in value. They've come in extremely handy this year, when I need to get
a largish amount of garden watered efficiently. At last! Something went
right! LOL!)

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 30-10-2008, 10:14 AM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Watering Systems

In article ,
Trish Brown wrote:

We're considering installing a watering system since our garden area has
grown so large recently. Having studied the layout of the block, we've
decided where the pipes need to go, but which spigots to install for
which plants?

There are weepers and tricklers and sprays and sprinklers and... I dunno!


Well, firstly check on your local water restrictions -- there are plenty of
Sydney-siders with expensive sprayer systems that are now not allowed.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/


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Old 30-10-2008, 01:49 PM posted to aus.gardens
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"Trish Brown" wrote in message
news:0117eee4$0$20641
Great! Thanks, David! Sounds as though I might be needing drippers and/or
very short risers then. Part of my garden will be devoted to roses and I'm
historical about getting the foliage too wet and causing awful fungus to
take hold. Another part will be for shorter annuals and



You could try laying bluestone around the roses - the roses' roots will be
attracted to the dark moist underneath the rocks.

Laying on a layer of thick mulch will also help.

I haven't been watering my garden much this year - and the roses look top
notch - no blackspot.


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Old 30-10-2008, 11:07 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Watering Systems

YMC wrote:
"Trish Brown" wrote in message
news:0117eee4$0$20641
Great! Thanks, David! Sounds as though I might be needing drippers and/or
very short risers then. Part of my garden will be devoted to roses and I'm
historical about getting the foliage too wet and causing awful fungus to
take hold. Another part will be for shorter annuals and



You could try laying bluestone around the roses - the roses' roots will be
attracted to the dark moist underneath the rocks.

Laying on a layer of thick mulch will also help.

I haven't been watering my garden much this year - and the roses look top
notch - no blackspot.


Yes, I've got my mulch rotting busily away in a corner, waiting for The
Bed to be ready! LOL!

Now I have another question. What is the creature that munches circular
holes in the leaves of apple trees? I've looked and looked, even used a
magnifying glass, but I'm blowed if I can find a single animal on the
leaves.

The tree is one my son germinated from seed and lives in a large pot,
where it's been quite happy these ten years or so. Suddenly, its leaves
look more like holly than apple! It looks exactly like caterpillar
damage, but where could the caterpillars be hiding?

(NB. There are about twenty pet mice buried in the pot, but somehow I
don't think they're rising from the dead at night and chewing the apple
leaves... it has to be something else!)

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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Old 31-10-2008, 12:41 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Default Watering Systems

In article ,
Trish Brown wrote:

Now I have another question. What is the creature that munches circular
holes in the leaves of apple trees? I've looked and looked, even used a
magnifying glass, but I'm blowed if I can find a single animal on the
leaves.


You won't. That's the work of the Leaf-Cutter Bee. Fascinating little
animal, it is a solitary bee that nests in a tunnel. It lays an egg at the
end of the tunnel, then uses a nice round piece of leaf to seal it off, lays
another egg, gets another bit of leaf, and so on. Here, they usually snip
circles from rose leaves.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/
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Old 01-11-2008, 10:05 PM posted to aus.gardens
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Chookie wrote:
In article ,
Trish Brown wrote:

Now I have another question. What is the creature that munches circular
holes in the leaves of apple trees? I've looked and looked, even used a
magnifying glass, but I'm blowed if I can find a single animal on the
leaves.


You won't. That's the work of the Leaf-Cutter Bee. Fascinating little
animal, it is a solitary bee that nests in a tunnel. It lays an egg at the
end of the tunnel, then uses a nice round piece of leaf to seal it off, lays
another egg, gets another bit of leaf, and so on. Here, they usually snip
circles from rose leaves.


Aha! You realise I'll have to park by the apple tree now until I get to
see one of these little fellows! I like to keep up with the wildlife in
my garden...

Thanks, Chookie! ;-D

--
Trish Brown {|:-}

Newcastle, NSW, Australia
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