We were approached by the client who felt his lawns could do with looking a lot better and that the borders would benefit from more water. The client had just planted a new small fruit tree orchard and whilst many of the borders were covered with mature trees many expensive shrubs would be better supported with additional irrigation in the warm summers.
We carried out a survey and evaluated the amount of water required to water the large rear lawn and surrounding borders. The newly planted orchard was set away from the main lawn and would require water to be brought to that point from wherever the tank was located. There was no mains water supply tap in the rear garden and water would need to be brought from the rear of the house over established landscaping to a suitable point where a larger water tank could be positioned, disguised, and then used to feed the required lawns, orchard and flower borders.
It was agreed that a 3000-litre tank was a good compromise in size for the demands of the garden and the ability to hide such a tank behind established trees and shrubs. Access to the garden was a further consideration in the size of the tank as it had to pass down the side of the house. The watering zones were then sized and designed to water each of the areas of the lawn and garden. It was requested that a Wi-Fi controller was used to be able to operate the irrigation system from both a phone as well as the controller panel. This meant positioning the Wi-Fi system close to the house but sending control signals to the valves in the ground at two different points around the garden. Underground power cables were laid from the house to supply the tank with mains 240volts and signals which were also then relayed around the garden. The Wi-Fi system receives weather station updates via the internet from a local weather station to update rainfall, wind and temperatures and then aides the controller to forecast the need for water in the garden. It will turn the system on and off according to the parameters used within the controller based on the weather station inputs.
An 8-zone system was designed with the majority of lawn zones separate from the watering of flower borders. Such that lawn watering could be turned off if so desired or reduced in water consumption should that be a chosen strategy. Each zone’s running time can be programmed via either the phone or the control panel to decide on the length of watering time daily. Settings are then saved such that an automatic program can be left to run in the case of holidays and trips away.
There was a lot of trenches dug around the perimeter of the lawns and through the middle of the lawn also. Once all pipes were buried and the installation was completed lawn turf was rolled back into place and within a couple of months of the soil and turf being replaced, plus some remedial seeding no sign of the work could be seen. Quite a bit of care and attention from the owner to feeding and weed killing should not be underestimated in the end result.
Easily maintained on a twice a year basis the system runs about 100 -120 days per year across the key summer months to keep the lawns and borders of the garden green and lush.
Interested in getting ideas for a garden watering system for your garden?
Contact Oasis Watering.
Tel. 020 816 816 66