With warm weather settling in and plants sprouting new growth, spring is the time to revitalise your garden.
As well as planting, weeding and pruning, watering is an integral aspect of garden maintenance and can literally make or break a showstopping yard.
Nylex product manager Alyce Rigby shares her top tips for ensuring your outdoor area is well maintained and hydrated this season, without wasting water in the process.
Water for longer, but less often
Instead of watering plants a little every day, it is more effective to give them a good soak less often, but ensure that soil is saturated and not flooded. To keep your garden hydrated, try Nylex’s Flextreme garden hose.
It is lightweight and offers unparalleled flexibility, so it can be easily maneuvered around trees and obstacles. The flexible hybrid polymer inner tube material is lead and BPA free, so it’s safe to water herbs and vegetable patches.
Use self-watering planters
Self-watering planters have become increasingly popular as they suit limited growing spaces.
They encourage healthy root growth and lessen weed problems while giving more control over moisture, sunlight and temperature. Nylex’s modular raised garden kit has a modular design, making it ideal for balcony gardens and renters.
Its flexible design allows multiple configuration settings, plus a drip watering system and two-hour mechanical tap timer to ensure no water is wasted.
The kit includes three planters and two legs, making it the perfect size to hold a variety of plants and flowers. Without a permanent fixture, this means users can adjust the kit to their preference and adapt it within a small living space. The kit is UV resistant, so it can handle the harsh Australian sun.
HERB GARDEN: This flexible design allows you to create multiple configurations.
Know your soil
It’s important to know the different types of soil and how to maintain them to allow optimum growth for your plants and minimise water use. Soil can develop a hard crust if it becomes too dry, so water will run off the surface. Push a broom handle a few centimetres into the soil to create reservoirs around the plants prior to watering, which will ensure you reach the roots.
If your garden contains a lot of clay, water will filter through slowly, so a deep soak is only needed once a week. For sandier ground, soak it twice a week. To make watering simple, use an oscillating sprinkler with an adjustable flow, length and width so it can suit your watering needs no matter the area you need to water.
The optimal time to water plants is early in the morning at the root zone.
Timing is everything
The optimal time to water plants is early in the morning at the root zone. Wet foliage particularly overnight, can encourage fungal disease and attract insects. Conversely, the middle of the day is the hottest time and water will evaporate before it reaches the root, reducing moisture for plants.
An easy way to avoid over watering is using an electronic tap timer. Nilex’s timer has 16 pre-set programs, one of which is an easy to use AM/PM program that automatically waters at sunrise and sunset – the best time to water.