Simple Irrigation System

It’s been a long day, the boss doesn’t seem to understand you have a life outside of work and you still haven’t packed for your weekend away. The weather is forecast for hot and sunny. Who’s going to water your container plants?

The last thing gardening should be is stressful. I would strongly recommend anyone with a hectic life style to get a watering computer. It sounds complicated but it’s just a timer that turns the water off and on. If you can set the alarm clock on a mobile phone, you shouldn’t have much problem. It simply screws on to an outdoor tap.

The other bits you need come as kits or individual pieces. Basically, there are three elements: the black irrigation pipe that takes the water from the computer to your containers, the grey porous pipe that you use inside your containers, and plastic connectors to put the whole thing together. It’s a bit like one of those simple construction toys you might have had as young child.

Use the t-connectors to make a ring from the porous tube to use in pots and straight lengths for window boxes. It may take a few hours to set up, but you will be able to sit back and enjoy your little patch of green all summer long without every worrying about watering.

By Alistair Ayres

Hot and Dry

On the windowsill or next to the wall, it’s sometimes easy to forget that plants still need watering even when it rains. In a sunny position during a hot summer, they may even need to be watered twice a day. Fuchsias and busy lizzies are quick to bring on your guilt by looking all sad and limp before they start shedding their leaves.

For a south-facing spot, I like to choose flowers that can take a spot of scorching and won’t sulk too much if I let them go dry occasionally.

Livingstone daisies (Mesembryanthemum) A fine leaved trailer with masses upon masses of small blue, pink or white dais-like flowers. Such a good temper: I’ve never seen it sulk or look stressed.

Felicia A trailer with small but quite startling blue flowers. You can get them with cream variegated foliage, which looks very good with blue, but I have found these to be far less sun tolerant than green-leaved forms.

Gazanias These are tough little plants that will really take a baking. The flowers, which come in all shades from cream to orange, close up on cloudy days when there isn’t enough light. I rather like them for this as it reflects my moods but it can be a bit of a downer in a bad summer.

Osteospermum Easy to please with a choice of purples, pinks, blues and white blooms. Not a party flower though as they close up at night. Trim the plants hard back after the first main flush and they will back in full bloom with a few weeks and carry on well into the autumn.

Californian poppies (Eschscholzia) Available in a range of vibrant colours that bring their own sunshine. Each flower lasts a day but they keep on coming. Very undemanding; will even grow in rubble.