Steps to Easy, Automated Garden Watering

 

The best time to water the garden in the summer is in the morning between four and six o'clock. At this time the soil is well cooled down after the night and the water hardly evaporates. But who wants to get up so early every day?

The remedy is an automatic garden watering system that allows sprinklers and sprayers to turn themselves on and off.  Thanks to smart technology, it can even detect whether rain is expected in the next few hours.  If so, the water tap will of course remain turned off.

From what garden size is an irrigation system worthwhile?

An irrigation system can make sense from 600 square ft of garden area. The larger the garden and the lawn area are and the more beds, hedges, and useful plants are on it, the more recommendable an automatic solution is.

Otherwise, you would have to stand in the garden for hours to water it sufficiently.  Well, maybe no one but me : )  I find watering the soil one of the most relaxing gardening pleasures. However, I am laying the hose down, pointing it in the direction where most water is needed. This way I don't need to 'stand'.  The following principle applies: It is better to water less frequently, but more abundantly.  Then the water also reaches deep-lying roots.

How do you install an irrigation system? 

First of all, garden owners need to be clear about which plants they want to water and in which places.  Not every plant needs the same amount of moisture.  Plants in shade might require less than some of those planted in sunny areas.  But as always: read the labels or search the Internet or gardening books!  The key is to have a watering schedule.  You can often create that online on the irrigation manufacturers' websites.  But garden professionals can also help.

Important questions: 
How long are the paths from the watering hole to the plants?  Where can vigorous watering be used, where is drip irrigation more sensible?  Can a central control system manage this or do you need a decentralized solution?

What information is important before making a purchase?

I need to know how strong the pump and garden water pipes are and how many liters per hour pass through.  Based on this value, it is possible to calculate how many sprinklers and valves you can connect to the line. This applies to all systems.  It doesn't matter whether the irrigation is controlled by a timer or an app.

Is it worth it to run the hoses underground? 
It's not worth it to run hoses underground in every case.  It's better to lay drip hoses or drip pipes above ground and then cover them with a big layer of mulch.  This protects them from sunlight and reduces evaporation.  However, if it does get below freezing in the winter, you will need to bury it below the frost line. To find out the depth of the frost line, you should consult your local government agency that handles building permits.

If garden owners want to avoid tripping:
Distribution lines are usually laid 20 to 40 centimeters (12-24 inches) below ground level.  Then they are not in the way.

What do you need in addition to garden hoses?

That depends on how sophisticated you want the irrigation system to be.  For the simplest option, a timer mounted between the water connection and the garden hose is all that's needed. 

The timer controls the flow through a valve.  This allows you to set when and how long to water, for example, every twelve hours for 30 minutes. Or much better: one hour every three days.

A sensor can help to target the plants more precisely.  You install it at a reference point in the garden.  It measures the soil moisture and sends corresponding signals to the control center.  After extensive rain, the water doesn't come back on until the set value is reached.  

You still might enjoy the pleasure of hand-watering the soil of your flower baskets, window flower boxes, and planters.  But not please not overhead the blooms and leaves!  And don't forget to fertilize them from time to time in spring and early summer.

Read more:

https://heartlandhoses.com/can-you-bury-a-garden-hose

https://housecaravan.com/should-you-bury-drip-irrigation-lines/

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Easy Composting the Right Way

 

Approximately 92% of household food waste still goes directly to landfills, where it anaerobically decomposes, expelling methane – a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide - into
the atmosphere.  Don't be that jerk - rather compost kitchen scraps the right way in your own garden!  It saves not only the environment but also money in your purse...

You can easily improve your flower garden with compost, top dress your lawn, feed your growing veggies, and even mulch your planting beds with compost.  Once you get your compost pile started, you will find that it's an easy way to repurpose kitchen scraps and other organic materials into something that can help your plants thrive. 

Common misconceptions of home composting are that it's too complicated, it will smell funny, and it's messy.  This may be true if you compost the wrong way, but composting the right way is actually quite simple.  Just layer organic materials, add a dash of soil and a splash of water, and wait for this mixture to turn into humus

What Goes Into the Compost:

• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Coffee and tea grounds
• Crushed Eggshells 
• Grass and plant clippings
• Dry leaves and small dry branches
• Finely chopped wood and bark chips
• Shredded newspaper and office paper
• Straw and paper egg cartons
• Small amounts of ash from your fireplace
• Sawdust from untreated wood
• Lint from your dryer
• Hair and nail clips, dog or cat hair
• Spent soil from indoor/outdoor flower pots
• Yard trimmings and grass clippings 

Keeping a container in your kitchen, or even better a large paper grocery bag, and piling your kitchen waste onto some sheets of newspaper, wrap it and place it in this device until filled up.  If you collect it this way it doesn't small.  I practice this for years!  In summer I place the whole paper bag into a hole that I dug in my flower beds,  and then fill and top it with soil.  In winter I collect it in my garage until it is warm enough to dig again.

Start building your compost pile by mixing three parts brown with one part green materials.  If your compost pile looks too wet and smells, (which doesn't happen if you pack kitchen scraps into the paper) then add more brown items. Aerate the pile every ten-day. If you see it looks extremely brown and dry, add green items and water to make it slightly moist.

Add about 4 to 6 inches of compost to your flower beds and into your pots at the beginning of each planting season.  Or even better: compost directly into the soil instead of a (god forbid plastic) composting bin in your garden.

It works like this: decide a spot where you want to plant in a couple of weeks.  Dig a hole at least one foot deep and wide.  Throw a couple of dry branches (ca. 8 inches long) into the hole, then add your collected compost items to fill it half, add a thin layer of garden soil or composted manure (chicken, cow, or sheep), then fill the hole with more compost, and on top again a layer of soil.  Add some water to moisten it and use a thin metal stick to aerate the 'compost bin'.   Should you have lots o squirrels or raccoons in your area, place a flat stone or a flower planter on top for the first two weeks to deter them from digging.  Within three or four weeks you can plant in this compost-improved soil.

Sources:

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/how-to-garden/no-dig-gardening/

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/advice/a23945/start-composting/

https://www.gardenary.com/blog/the-basics-of-composting-in-your-own-backyard

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/compost/how-to-compost/

https://facty.com/network/how-to/how-to-compost-at-home

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/compost/9-common-composting-mistakes-you-may-be-making/

https://gardensbybarby.ca/

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Creating Habitat for Pollinators

 

Seed and plant specialist Barbara Schaefer explains in her blog how to make a habitat for pollinators - using the example of the sweat bee:

"In early spring, insects are still in diapause (a state akin to hibernation). They are triggered to wake up when the weather warms and/or the day-length increases. Cutting down dead plant stems too early in the spring will disturb them before they have a chance to emerge."

Prevailing knowledge said it was a sign of good gardening to have a tidy garden, providing fewer places for unwanted pests to overwinter.  Turns out that I was dead wrong."  

"So, back to the fall … if I knew then what I know now, I would have done more than just leave the leaf litter and the stalks. I would have added a variety of over-wintering habitats for insects, such as decomposing logs and random rock piles".

"My gardens are not only for my enjoyment and satisfaction but also home to insects that pollinate my plants and whose larvae feed nestlings of songbirds. As a steward of the land, I have a large role to play in my small part of the world". 

I have learned that some butterflies overwinter as adults. They nestle into rock fissures, under tree bark, or in leaf litter until the days grow longer again and spring arrives. Other butterflies overwinter in a chrysalis, either found hanging from dead plant stems or tucked into the soil or leaf litter. And still, other butterfly species spend the winter as a caterpillar rolled into a fallen leaf or inside the seed pod of a host plant.

Predatory insects may also spend the winter ‘sleeping’ in my garden as either adults, eggs, or pupae. They are one of the best reasons not to clean up the garden in the fall because they help control pests. If I want to have a balanced population of predatory insects, I must provide diverse winter habitat.

Some insect-eating birds have not flown south for the winter. They are quite good at gleaning ‘hibernating’ insects off dead plant stems and branches, and out of leaf litter (when it’s not buried in heavy snow). Not cleaning up the garden means there will be more protein-rich insects available to them during the coldest part of the year. The more insect-nurturing habitat I have, the greater the bird population will be. Further, seed-eating birds will appreciate the seeds and berries they can find on intact perennial, annual, and shrub stems.

Read her eye-opening blog post here: 
https://gardensbybarby.ca/gardening-for-pollinators/

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