Getting the Irrigation Set Up

Last week I went out to check on the freshly sown veggie patch and found that the cats had gotten into it again... and unfortunately they had gotten rid of most of my leeks. Not happy!

Weeping hose and connectors

So, the time came earlier than I expected to have to mulch and while I was doing that I figured I would also set up the irrigation in the beds.

When I was at Bunnings last I spoke to a really nice gentleman who worked there and he helped me out a lot.  We decided for what I had (2 raised beds) that a weeping hose (right) would be best.  For me, this is the first time I have ever used any form of irrigation that wasn't me standing there with the garden hose, so this is just a really nice, simple set up.

This weeping hose connects to the standard garden hose, which just makes it so easy to use!  Because I have to 2 garden beds, and this was a 10m hose, I cut it in half and clamped on an end to one and added a garden hose nozzle to the other. You can pick these up for only a couple of dollars and then you can make yourself as many hoses as you like.

Laying the weeping hose in the garden bed

After adding the ends, I laid the hose around the garden bed in a spiral (mostly because it was already curving). The hose needs to be about 30cm apart, which worked quite well in the bed. I was worried that 5m was going to be too long, but I think that it's probably about right. I did have to try and lay it around so that it wouldn't hurt/damage the growing plants.  The only ones I'm not sure of are the seeds, so I'll have to just see how they grow.

Keeping the connector on the outside for
easy access

When laying the hose down, I made sure to put the connector piece to the outside to make sure that it's easy to connect the garden hose without disrupting the plants or the mulch.

Water droplets from the weeping hose

The guy at Bunnings said to run water through the weeping hoses for about half an hour before adding mulch on top.  I think that's mostly to make sure it works, and probably to help clear it out in case there is any gunk in there.  It was actually really cool to see the water come out in little droplets.

Freshly mulched garden bed

After running water through both hoses, I added mulch over the top.  I bought a bag of pea straw as it should break down faster than the sugar can mulch that I have used before. I made sure to cover the dirt and the weeping hose without  totally covering the plants and seedlings.  This was actually a little difficult as  some of them were so small and tiny they just bent or were covered easily.  Also, I wanted to make sure that they weren't going to rot with having wet mulch around the 'stalks'.  I also tried to have a very thin layer where seeds were planted so that they would be able to sprout.

Lavender moved to be near other plants...
The bees are happy!

Since I mulched last week, some of it has moved or settled, so I need to add a little more, mostly to cover the hose. But so far it has been working really well.  We have had a bit of rain recently so I haven't watered, and I will only be watering once or twice a week now as I noticed that the water was pooling around the bottom of the beds when it got too wet.  The mulch helps the beds to retain the water so it doesn't evaporate.

Puddles from the garden beds

I have been thinking about planting some flowering plants in front of the raised garden beds to help soak up the run off, that way water won't be wasted.  I would love to plant more lavender, not only because I love the look and smell as well as encourage bees, but it doesn't need much water. The only downside is that B hates lavender, so will need to think of something else.

Trying to fix a hole in the fence... it's working!

As for the cats, I went broke up an old shoe rack and used a take to help cover the hole in the fence.  It has held up really well  and there have been no cats in my garden beds, but unfortunately they have moved onto the pots... rosemary and lavender which I moved to be near some other flowering plants in the garden.

Overall the plants seem to be doing ok.  However there are other things I want to plant, and my only solution at the moment is that I need more garden beds!! Not sure where to put them without pulling out the plants near the lavender bush...