a guide to watering your garden

a guide to watering your garden

The diagram beow shows how the amount of water in a garden is constanty changing. A pant draws a its water from the soi so you have to make sure that there is enough water in the soi for your pants to stay heathy. We have deveoped this guide to hep you water your garden and insta irrigation more efficienty. For a waterwise garden you aso need to consider the pants you grow, the soi they grow in, muches and other gardening practices. For more information visit watercorporation.com.au or see one of our Waterwise Speciaists for advice. four principes of good irrigation 1. Appy the right amount of water for the pants in the sois they are growing in. 2. Time the watering so that it meets the changing weather conditions. 3. Appy the water eveny to a the pants being watered. 4. Appy water ony where it is required so that it reaches the root zone of the pants being watered. just enough water Pants can ony use water where the pant roots grow, for most pants that is in the top 30cm of soi. They cannot use water anywhere ese in the soi. This means the pant root zone contains a the water the pant can draw on. The trick is to manage when and how much you water so that there is aways some moisture in the root zone. If it dries out your pants wi be stressed and coud die. If you overfi it you are wasting water because the extra water is ost through run off or drainage. Run off aso carries nutrients, from things ike fertiiser, that end up in our waterways contributing to poution. Most pants do not ike waterogged soi so you risk root rot and disease if you overwater. water in the root zone Water can be added to the soi through rain or irrigation. It is ost from the soi surface through evaporation and used by pants as they grow naturay, a process caed transpiration. It can aso run off the surface and drain through the soi. If water runs off or drains past the root zone it is wasted. The amount of water stored in the root zone depends on your garden s soi type and how deep the root zone is. Your chaenge as a gardener is to manage watering so that the amount of water in the root zone stays between empty, the point where the pant dies, and fu, the point where water is ost either through drainage, run-off or evaporation. The easiest way to do this is with a modern, efficient irrigation system. three steps to efficient irrigation 1. Design the system so that it provides the right amount of water for your pants. 2. Insta the system to design specifications carefuy so that it wi operate as it was designed to. 3. Operate the system at the right time for the right amount of time.

designing your system Prepare a pan of your garden so you can see where you need to water. Designing an irrigation system can be a difficut job, contact a Waterwise Garden Irrigator for professiona hep. hydrozones Different areas of the garden have different water requirements. Lawns have different watering requirements to garden bed areas. Areas panted with native pants have different water requirements to other pants. The areas of different water requirements are hydrozones. An important part of water efficient irrigation design is to identify hydrozones and water them on separate stations or zones. mains or bore Garden bores can save money as we as our precious drinking water. To find out whether a bore is suitabe for your garden, consut the Department of Water s Groundwater Atas for Perth. Once you have determined that a bore is appropriate, contact a speciaist Austraian Driing Industry Association (ADIA) drier or a Waterwise Garden Irrigator. water fow and pressure A simpe way to test your water fow is to measure how ong it takes to fi a standard 10 itre bucket. If it takes 1 minute to fi the bucket then you know that water fows from the tap at 10 itres per minute or 600 (10 x 60 minutes) itres per hour. This determines what type of watering device you can use, how many you can use at one time and therefore how much water wi be appied by your irrigation system. For a more accurate fow and pressure test, contact your oca Waterwise Irrigation Design Shop. connecting to mains suppy The highest avaiabe water fow on your property is ikey to be cose to the water meter. Commony the most cost-effective garden watering system woud invove a pumber s connection cose to this point. Whist your home may have taps for both front and back to which a system can be connected, the ower water fow rates at these points means that a system often has to be spit up into more stations. A connection to your mains must be carried out by a icensed pumber, who must aso insta a doubecheck backfow prevention device at the connection point. choosing an irrigation system There are ots of ways to water your garden, ranging from buckets and hoses with sprinkers and nozzes attached to fixed sprinker and drip systems with automatic controers. The tabe beow is a guide to different types of equipment and its abiity to meet the basic principes of good irrigation. Efficiency rating 1 poor very good Irrigation devices 2 Appying the Even Water to right amount watering root zone Dripine Sprayers / rotating sprinkers Microjets End-of-hose sprinkers Hand-hed sprayers 1 The ratings in this tabe are based on the irrigation system being correcty designed, instaed and operated. 2 Any watering device incuding a nozze on the end of a hose, a sprinker on a hose, a dripper, a fixed sprayer or a pop up sprayer. It is the piece of equipment that directs water onto the garden.

garden watering tips Insta a rain sensor if you have an automatic irrigation system. It wi prevent your automatic irrigation system from watering unnecessariy either during or soon after rain. Space your sprinkers so that your garden is watered eveny. Use a tap timer, it wi hep you to contro the amount of water appied to your awn or garden. Design your irrigation system so that you can water the hydrozones in your garden on different stations. This way your pants wi get the water they need without wasting it. Do not mix different types of sprinkers on one watering station, they emit different voumes of water and have different run times. By making sure every sprinker in a station is the same you wi optimise the amount of water penetrating the root zone, without wasting water. A drip irrigation system is water efficient and works we for native and other waterwise pants. Insta a pressure reguator if you experience ow fow rates and a fiter to prevent drippers from cogging. Make sure you insta the right number of sprinkers on one ine. Too many may resut in not enough water pressure and too few may ead to high water pressure and water being wasted. Do not choose sprinkers that wi appy more water than your soi can absorb. Different sois hod different amounts of water and may require different watering rates. It is important to know the type of soi and the type of pants you are watering, so that you can choose the right sprinker. Position sprinkers so that they ony water your garden. Overspray on to the road or nearby buidings is a waste. instaing your system 1. Before you begin, get your finished design and a the parts. Ensure you have everything you need and you know where each piece shoud go. 2. Mark out and dig your trenches. 3. Start at the water source, connect your master soenoid vave (if instaing automatic system) and then insta the mainine. Fush the mainine before instaing any soenoid vaves so that you don t have dirt and rubbish in the pipes. 4. Remember to insta any wiring with the mainine pacing it in conduit or burying it under the mainine to protect it. 5. Insta atera ines and, finay, the sprinkers themseves. Don t insta any nozzes unti you have thoroughy fushed each station. Soenoid vaves may have to be operated manuay unti you have made fina connections to the controer. 6. Fit nozzes and make sure each station waters eveny. For professiona assistance pease contact your oca Waterwise Irrigation Design Shop or a Waterwise Garden Irrigator. did you know? A waterwise irrigation system is the most effective way to water your garden and wi hep you save water and money.

operating your system Water is wasted in three ways: 1. Through evaporation and wind drift. 2. Putting water where it is not needed, such as onto paths or buidings. 3. Watering for too ong. check your system reguary Make sure sprinkers and sprayers are pointing in the right direction, drippers are working and that the system is working at the right pressure (no misting from sprinkers, pressure too high, or streams of water, pressure too ow). reduce evaporation Water in the morning to hep reduce waste from evaporation and wind drift. Watering eary aows the water to soak into the root zone and be avaiabe to the pant throughout the day when they need it most. how often shoud you water? A permanent winter sprinker ban appies to a scheme and bore water users in Perth, Mandurah and some parts of the South West, from 1 June to 31 August each year. Watering rosters and a statewide daytime sprinker ban between 9am and 6pm are in pace across Western Austraia. how ong shoud you water? Water just enough to penetrate the root zone, most pant roots are found in the top 30cm of soi. 10mm is the standard drink for your garden to penetrate the root zone and is the recommended maximum appication per watering day. Different types of sprinkers have different watering rates. The tabe on the next page shows the recommended watering times to appy 10mm of water to your garden for a range of sprinkers. Watering for onger wi just waste water. Remember to program your irrigation system to suit current cimate and seasona conditions. The aim of a water efficient irrigation system is to deiver the right amount of water at the right time. Different sois can hod different amounts of water and may aso require different watering rates. You can improve your soi s heath and water storage capacity with organic or minera soi improvers. You can often find soi improvers that aso contain wetting agents, which hep water penetrate to the roots of your pants. If you are not sure of the type of soi in your garden take a sampe to your oca nursery for professiona advice. Appying the right amount of water for your soi type wi hep you keep your pants heathy and save water. For more information see our Water Saving Ideas Soi Improvement brochure at watercorporation.com.au To find out your watering days, visit watercorporation.com.au or contact the Waterwise Hepine on 13 10 39.

sprinker watering times Sprinker type Typica watering rate (per hour) Run time for 10mm (standard drink) 35 45mm 13 16 mins Fixed Spray 15 20mm 30 40mins Dripine 10 20mm 30 40mins Gear-Drive Rotator 10 15mm 40 60mins Rotary more information For professiona advice, visit our website to find a Waterwise Speciaist near you. They incude Garden Designers, Garden Centres, Garden Irrigators, Irrigation Design Shops and Landscapers. Waterwise Speciaists have been trained especiay to hep you save water by providing speciaist advice on waterwise products and services for your home and garden. Look for the Waterwise Approved and Smart Approved WaterMark symbos when choosing gardening products such as much, pants, greywater systems and sprinkers.

13 10 39 Waterwise Hepine 13 13 85 Customer Centre (8am - 5pm weekdays) 13 36 77 Nationa Reay Service ISBN 1 74043 740 3 October 2011 This information is avaiabe in aternative formats on request. customer@watercorporation.com.au watercorporation.com.au