Well, what do you know! I have actually had to turn on the sprinklers in the gardena couple of times because it hasn't rained in a while (obviously I do not live in Queensland).
The sound of sprinklers is the sound of childhood Summers.
With the long drought we have had in south sastern Australia there have been strict water restrictions imposed. I could only water twice a week in my last garden.
Apart from falling in love with the garden, the main selling points of this house for me were the water rights to the creek and the watering system.
I would like to hug the last bloke who owned this garden.
His name is Trevor and he was once an irrigator in Deniliquin NSW. He turned his hand to installing an extensive sprinkler system throughout the whole garden. The water is pumped from the creek behind the house.
There are several banks of these sprinklers. The pump can't cope with them all on at once.
So these in-line taps enable watering of different sections of the garden at a time. Trevor even made a tool to turn them easily with out bending down. Sometimes, no usually, I get drenched trying to dodge the sprinklers to turn the taps on and off...but that is part of the fun.
Some sprinkler heads have their own taps like this one. The sprinklers are fully adjustable...from full circle to a narrow arc, from a long reach to a short one, and a from a jet to a showery sprinkle.
In the veggie garden there are two taps. I water the veggies by hand which I prefer anyway because different plants need different sized drinks at different times in their life cycle. Watering near the roots helps to prevent mildew problems. While watering I can monitor the health of each plant and plan any actions I may need to take. I also pull out the odd weed as I water. Watering for me is also a time to plan what else to do in the garden and to just enjoy it all.
