The pleasures of watering the garden by hand

Gosh, how interesting a blog post abut the joys of watering garden by hand.

I used to do it with a bucket, but that wore thin very quickly, so now I have a hose.

I don’t use a sprinkler, just let it run. [You were warned.]

And I’ve planted most of the plants in hollows.

So now, when I water…once a week at the moment…I get to crawl around the garden filling the hollows with water; watching all sorts of interesting insects scurry about as the flood waters rise; and doing some “tip pruning”.

I read about “tip pruning” in the Bible (Wrigley and Fagg): start as soon as the plant is in the ground, they suggest, should it need it; and keep at it throughout it’s life. Take off up to a third after flowering. This, apparently, results in fairly dense shrubbery, which is the look I’m after, rather than the “straggly, water-stressed bush” one that was apparently popular in the 1970’s and may explain why there are so few Australian plant gardens around now.

Anyway, back at the watering. Guess what? I put 73 litres of water on the front garden this evening. How exciting is that? Or is it just sad? I read the meter before and after watering…it’s sad. Next thing I’ll be collecting it in a measuring jug, checking the Water Corp have got my bill right and writing to the local paper.

I noticed the front is growing slower than the back. Largely due, I suspect, to the presence of two mature Agonis Flexuosa (WA Peppermint) and a couple of bloody great palm trees. It got me thinking that maybe I need to give them a boost in someway, the new natives that is; so I’m revising my views on Bentonite Clay (I “trolled” the whole “Bentonite Clay is King” business here). Maybe there is a place for the clay where the plants are in difficult situations. Apparently it’s quite easy to water in over time.

I might give them some slow release fertiliser too, although they look healthy, just a bit smaller than in the back. I think that means I need a nitrogen rich fertiliser…or at least more nitrogen in some way. Hmmm? Good “organic” sources of nitrogen? Ah ha! 😉