Watering is one of the most important tasks in the garden. Natural moisture at the roots is generally not sufficient in a garden, if it is a real moist atmosphere that promotes plant development it might be enough, the color of the grass and the abundance of vegetation in shrubs, flowers and vegetables outside of a garden is an indication. Therefore, rainy regions where temperature differences are small (England) still offer beautiful vegetation without high demands on irrigation.
Good watering does not mean satisfying shallow soil needs, the moisture must penetrate deep into the soil, in order to create a reservoir around the plant and maintain a reserve available for several days.t
To properly water a lawn, it takes 1 to 2 gallons of water per square yard, which is the rotation of a sprinkler for half an hour to an hour. A shrub needs 10 to 20 gallons of water per week, the year of planting, a tree of 20 to 30 gallons, a rose from 4 to 6 gallons, then it is enough to water during hot periods and, regularly during vegetation.
Although the watering can is an such an traditional tool it is not ideal when it comes to covering a large area nor is it optimal when you want to target certain areas carefully. Yet, I have found that there are simple additions to our equipment that are inexpensive, and allow us to water in the desired place without wasting water; In addition, targeted watering allows you to apply exactly the desired amount, at the chosen time, even during times when you are away.
Needless to say, watering a lawn should be done when you don't expect to get any rain (unlike this person) so as not to let the water, and nutrients, run off; it is customary to use sprinklers, whose advantage is to cover a large area but their circular cover imposes a wide overlay of each watered area. It should be noted that watering in fine rain should be alright as long as it is a very fine rain.
Yet it is very easy to install a sprinkler system, we bought our system off of eBay and it had everything we needed in kit. And we were some what careful how we installed them so that the overlap was kept at a minimum. We bought one that uses retractable sprinkler heads, they are adjustable and allow you to set the angle,you can also choose to do a semi-circle or full circle, their range is two to four bars and it can do about 10 yards, more expensive models could do more but we were happy with what this one offered.
Was it easy? My husband did it but he said that it was easy. What that means to somebody without any experience is up to discussion. I doubt that it would have been possible for me to handle the installation. Still, the installation of such a system is done by digging a small channel 3-5 inches deep where the hose and the sprinkler are buried. Under pressure the heads emerge from the ground, then disappear once their mission is accomplished. In other words they are only visible when they are in use/under pressure.
The number of sprinklers you can install per circuit is determined by the water flow and pressure available at the tap which was sort of low on our system which is another reason why we installed the sprinkler heads sparingly. Flower beds, shrubs, hedges and vegetable garden can also be watered with such an integrated irrigation system but there are more efficient and economical system for such tasks, combining watering via drip feeders(?), supplying the desired amount of water per hour at the foot of each plant though we don't have any experience with such devices.
Of course you need to monitor the weather and also adjust your schedule when you move into cooler periods.
The booklet said that regular watering should be avoided in early spring and fall to avoid the development of root rot, due to excess moisture in the lawn as well as the pots and planters, if you have some experience with plants you'll know that excess moisture should be avoided as it can lead to asphyxiation. You may also develop root diseases.
All in all it takes some of the effort of keeping the yard greener during the summer has gotten a lot easier.