The best thing I have ever done for my garden.
ZeroZero1
Posts: 577
I thought i would share this, in case you might not have thought of it.
It's about watering.
I have a garden tap. A few years back I decided to run water to two further places in my garden and into my greenhouse.
Teeing of from my tap I ran a hose about 50ft to where I had concreted in a wooden post (using quick set concrete this is so easy). Here I fitted my first tap and teed off again to run a hose into the greenhouse. I did this by making a hole under the concrete, but there are of course other ways. I then ran the hose again down to my raised beds. Here another post and another garden tap.
The whole set up has avoided countless trips with watering cans and there is no need to drag long lengths of hoses any more.
I have learn that it is important to seal the tee offs well, using good jubilee clips. Using Hoselock type fittings was simply not up to the job. I ended up using boiling water to soften the hose and used standard 15mm copper pipe inserted into it, to fit the taps. I understand there are more professional ways to run the hoses, but this worked for me.
To each tap a further smaller hose is attached. When I walk into my greenhouse I have water at the squeeze of a trigger.
My whole garden is transformed by this one effort. Everything got watered well during the drought (no hosepipe ban here). My Hollyhocks are eight foot tall, my runner beans are well over 12 feet tall. As you may well know, water and good soil are the keys.
If you are still struggling with watering, may I suggest you give consideration to running water to key parts of the garden
Z
It's about watering.
I have a garden tap. A few years back I decided to run water to two further places in my garden and into my greenhouse.
Teeing of from my tap I ran a hose about 50ft to where I had concreted in a wooden post (using quick set concrete this is so easy). Here I fitted my first tap and teed off again to run a hose into the greenhouse. I did this by making a hole under the concrete, but there are of course other ways. I then ran the hose again down to my raised beds. Here another post and another garden tap.
The whole set up has avoided countless trips with watering cans and there is no need to drag long lengths of hoses any more.
I have learn that it is important to seal the tee offs well, using good jubilee clips. Using Hoselock type fittings was simply not up to the job. I ended up using boiling water to soften the hose and used standard 15mm copper pipe inserted into it, to fit the taps. I understand there are more professional ways to run the hoses, but this worked for me.
To each tap a further smaller hose is attached. When I walk into my greenhouse I have water at the squeeze of a trigger.
My whole garden is transformed by this one effort. Everything got watered well during the drought (no hosepipe ban here). My Hollyhocks are eight foot tall, my runner beans are well over 12 feet tall. As you may well know, water and good soil are the keys.
If you are still struggling with watering, may I suggest you give consideration to running water to key parts of the garden
Z
0
Posts
The best thing I have done for my garden is to make and apply loads of compost.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I have learn to disconnect all sprays and put them away for the winter.
The main area of issues is where the plastic hoses are connected and spurred, due to constant expanding and contracting, in the summer and winter, they can become loose.
If you are considering doing this, which is very worthwhile, I recommend you try to tee off any hoses in places where access is easy, in case you need to replace. They go four years or so before issues usually. That's a lot of watering cans full.
There seems to be two kinds of suitable hoses these days - the common "hoselock" types usual in gardens, then there is a blue type which has a bit more girth and seems to be the one a plumber might use.
Lastly one tip: in order to get the hose onto a fitting, dip it in boiling hot water to soften it. Use a lube too. Avoid plastic fittings - hoselock type stuff leaks.
Z