Summer Proofing Your Garden
Episode: # 29 15/12/07
Presenter: Neville Passmore and Trevor Cochrane
With summer upon us it is time to check your irrigation and make sure water is getting out of the sprinkler heads and down to your plants. You should be checking all the sprinkler heads to ensure there is no grit blocking them and it’s a good idea to go flushing your system now and get all the grit out of it completely.
To do this take the sprinkler on the end of each line off and turn your system on for about ten seconds. This should be more than enough to flush the rubbish out of the line and ensure your sprinklers don’t block. You should also check your sprinklers weekly in summer to make sure your system is working properly.
During summer in WA a common problem of our sandy soils is that they become hydrophobic, literally water hating. This can occur in garden beds aswell as underneath lawns. The fix is to apply a wetting agent which acts like a detergent in that it breaks down the surface tension of the soil particles, gets through all that waxy coating and allows the moisture in to do its job.
It’s a good idea to do this a couple of times of year in soils that are particularly sandy or that get very dry in the peak of summer. We need to make sure that we don’t apply water to the garden after 9am or before 6pm. Of course you also need to stick to your rostered, allocated days for watering.
For people living north of the Kalbarri to Kalgoorlie line that’s alternate days. South of that line is twice a week and remember if you have a bore and live in the Mandurah to Perth region you should only water your garden three times a week. Heaven knows that is more than you’re garden will need.
While summer is not the perfect time for planting out new trees, shrubs or seedlings, if you have to do it, give them a spray with Yates Stressguard which puts a coating over the foliage and reduces the moisture lost to the atmosphere. New technology is great and when it comes to irrigation there are lots of new products available, many of which are quite inexpensive, and they really do make a difference when it comes to delivering water right down to the root system where it is needed most.
Make sure you mulch your gardens nice and thickly this time of the year. The Gurus use Biowise which is fully composted mulch. This is absolutely critical because it means it does not have any plant or human pathogens in it. Because it has been super heated in the composting process you don’t have any weed seeds which is also really important.
For more details on making your garden more waterwise visit
www.waterwisewaysforwa.com.au
Presenter: Neville Passmore and Trevor Cochrane
With summer upon us it is time to check your irrigation and make sure water is getting out of the sprinkler heads and down to your plants. You should be checking all the sprinkler heads to ensure there is no grit blocking them and it’s a good idea to go flushing your system now and get all the grit out of it completely.
To do this take the sprinkler on the end of each line off and turn your system on for about ten seconds. This should be more than enough to flush the rubbish out of the line and ensure your sprinklers don’t block. You should also check your sprinklers weekly in summer to make sure your system is working properly.
During summer in WA a common problem of our sandy soils is that they become hydrophobic, literally water hating. This can occur in garden beds aswell as underneath lawns. The fix is to apply a wetting agent which acts like a detergent in that it breaks down the surface tension of the soil particles, gets through all that waxy coating and allows the moisture in to do its job.
It’s a good idea to do this a couple of times of year in soils that are particularly sandy or that get very dry in the peak of summer. We need to make sure that we don’t apply water to the garden after 9am or before 6pm. Of course you also need to stick to your rostered, allocated days for watering.
For people living north of the Kalbarri to Kalgoorlie line that’s alternate days. South of that line is twice a week and remember if you have a bore and live in the Mandurah to Perth region you should only water your garden three times a week. Heaven knows that is more than you’re garden will need.
While summer is not the perfect time for planting out new trees, shrubs or seedlings, if you have to do it, give them a spray with Yates Stressguard which puts a coating over the foliage and reduces the moisture lost to the atmosphere. New technology is great and when it comes to irrigation there are lots of new products available, many of which are quite inexpensive, and they really do make a difference when it comes to delivering water right down to the root system where it is needed most.
Make sure you mulch your gardens nice and thickly this time of the year. The Gurus use Biowise which is fully composted mulch. This is absolutely critical because it means it does not have any plant or human pathogens in it. Because it has been super heated in the composting process you don’t have any weed seeds which is also really important.
For more details on making your garden more waterwise visit
www.waterwisewaysforwa.com.au
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