This page describes the irrigation and watering of the garden, and some other information about the outside areas.
Automatic irrigation
(FYI only—no action needed.)
Most of the garden is irrigated by the lawn sprinklers or by drip irrigation timers. These run in the early morning; the drip systems also run around 5 or 6 pm.
Manual watering
There are a number of potted plants that need to be watered by hand:
- Small pots on the driveway — every other day at least, don’t let them wilt
- Various pots around the back yard — every day if it’s hot, don’t let them wilt
- House plants — every couple of days
- A couple of potted plants outside the front door & around the bird bath
Watering for each of these is described below.
Note: Water outdoors in the mornings and/or evenings, not in the hot part of the day.
Activating the hoseS
There are two hoses and they operate differently.
You’ll use the hose out back for the outside plants—so you need to turn it on first. You do this using the irrigation timer on the tap in back the house, as shown below:
Just press the manual button . After a few seconds, the hose should turn on for 10 minutes.
You’ll also want to use the hose outside the kitchen door to water the plants along the driveway. Unfortunately, this one is a little more complicated… The magic spell goes more or less like this:
- Press the manual button (looks like a faucet).
- Press the L|R button one time.
- Press the + button to add some time.
- …water things…
- There will be leftover time, so set the nozzle to mist and lay it in the big trough with the eucalyptus trees.
Troubleshooting: It’s possible to get these hoses wrong by going too slowly. In that case, turn the dial to OFF and back to RUN. When you’ve done it right, the display should say MANUAL RIGHT in the top-right corner and the hose flows.
What needs watering: Small pots
How much: a good drenching soak every second day (more during hot times).
All the small potted plants that need watering are gathered together between the back door and the back deck. Whatever’s in this area, or on the deck, water it!
What needs watering: Large Tree pots
There are multiple large pots that you need to soak every second day, similar to shown in the picture below, as well as on the deck and along the back fence:
What needs watering: indoors
There are some houseplants around the kitchen sink, and a palm next to the TV. Please water these every couple of days (use the blue watering can) and take care not to overwater and cause spillage.
Gates
Don’t open the side gates of the yard; they can be tricky to latch shut again.
Lawn people
Folks come around every second week, usually around Wednesday, to mow and trim the front lawns. No action needed.