Install a garden irrigation system around your home to make gardening easier once and for all!
Photos by: Unsplash
Good friends of ours recently received inheritance funds and decided to use them to upgrade their gardens around their home. Let's just say it was money well spent. It wasn't that much that they could spend on buying a new house, but the beautiful house they already lived in got a complete makeover and with summer around the corner, the garden became a priority.
We're a group of friends who grew up in a hot climate and the norm was being outside, barefoot, and the kids running crazy in the grass from the sprinklers, it was heaven. My husband and I continued this practice with our children and so our Circle of Friends basically followed suit. In summer the kitchen is concreted outside.
aesthetics
If you are outside until all hours of the evening, the greenery and surroundings should reflect the mood, set the tone and keep the home cozy regardless of the absence of sunshine. To do this, you would either need to be green and creative, or you would need to get the help of professionals who know how to make a vision a reality. You want to be able to sit and relax, hear Bossa's vibe over the speakers, and look out at the garden with a smile. Lush green trees and grass, soft lighting and walls with organic wooden boxes filled and overflowing with herbs and flowers. And this is exactly the picture you received with our friends' new outdoor area. It looked like a magazine article. If you're looking to refresh your exterior, check out these images here for inspiration. To get the creative ball rolling, you'll be tinkering around in the countryside in no time. There is nothing greater than being with loved ones in your home and being surrounded by nature.
The how
The big question we all ask ourselves: How did you achieve such an amazing feat? Sure, you can buy all of the bushes, plants, and flowers and do some research on how to best lay it all out, but then comes the dreaded task of maintenance. If you're anything like me then it seems as unnatural to keep plants (even cacti that I struggle with) alive like flies. I just can't figure out what's going wrong. My husband knows that I love plants and everything green in and around the house. It creates a coziness, is a design feature in some cases and of course provides oxygen, win-win, but we hired a company to set it all up. They explained some key elements that had to be followed and posted in routine maintenance checks and we didn't look back. (We also still have a full home with live plants.) I recommended them to our friends and they loved it. The company worked hand in hand with its inquiries, questions and the “Vision Board” and brought it to life.
They had a world class irrigation system in place, from sprinklers to pumps to drip taps filtering through their award-winning herb wall. It was all automated while using high quality equipment. I don't know about taps or tubing that the system will work with, but these tools look both good and functional. What can you not love? This website has some great services and tools that will provide everything you need to start your new project and the best options for your garden layout from industry experts.
Why irrigation is important
In addition to the fact that your plants will be alive, an irrigation system that matches the design and shape of the growing area will make them more efficient and effective. It manages and regulates the times when the plants or grass need to be watered and goes straight to the roots where the water is absorbed. There are different implementations of systems. You can use a drip method or a spray technique, maybe even a combination of the two, to ideally get the best of both worlds.
Drop or spray
The most popular of the two, which I noticed after talking to some avid gardeners and house bodies, is the drip method. It allows water to gradually drip into the flower beds and garden corners where the need for constant saturation is not so great. It is essentially a long pipe with slots cut in measured spaces and through which the water drips. It is great for maneuvering around unusual shapes or walls and is easy to connect to the irrigation system. The spray option gives you the luxury of covering a larger area with a “thorn” from which the water sprays. It is best suited for plants that are “thirsty” and have the advantage that the water flow is free from interruptions Spray – free flowing. A great article at this link has a comparison of the two as you look at the pros and cons of both, how it works best and in what situation.
One last thought
If you are in the planning stages of setting up and designing your garden, I strongly recommend that you take your time and do your research. It is worth investing not only financially in the value of your home but also in aesthetics. In the long run, it is more cost effective to get the job done right the first time with the help of the professionals. You don't want to rush and have a garden that is withering or looking dry like the desert from improper watering because you forget to pay attention to it.
Having a timed system takes away the stress and hassle of rushing home before sunset to water the garden or relying on the kids to do the job because we all know kids are "too cool" are to be seen watering the plants i right?
