Early Autumn is a great time to repair the damages caused by the ravages of Summer and prepare your Lawn using the following tips to help get through Winter in readiness for Spring.

• Remove weeds. They will take over when grass grows slower in the cooler months.
• De-thatch with a garden rake to remove build-up of dead grass, especially in buffalo, kikuyu and couch lawns.
• Aerate the lawn with a garden fork, aerating spike shoes, or you can hire a coring machine suitable for home gardens.
• Worn and bare areas should be scraped or roughed-up then over-sown with lawn seed matching or similar to your existing grass type. Dust with top soil and apply a seaweed solution weekly for 1 month.
• Mow higher by 2 notches to allow more light on more leaf for better photosynthesis and less room for weeds.
• Top dress if required with a suitable soil mix, then water entire lawn area to settle the topdressing.
• Fertilise with ‘All Purpose Slow Release Lawn Fertiliser’.
• Water less frequently and in the morning now, to lessen potential  fungal problems.

Key items:

Weed Control: Methoxone D selective herbicide, 1 Litre

Rake for de-thatching; Steel

Aerating spike shoes or 4 Tyne Fork, St/steel & Timber                       

Lawn Builder w/- slow release fertiliser, 4kg     

Grass seed mix, Qld blend, 3kg                          

Fertiliser Spreader Trolley:
EvenGreen (drop)                                              
EasyGreen (broadcast)       

Call in and see us today to pick up all that you need.                               

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As well as ‘all things irrigation’, we now have a range of fertilizers and soil conditioning products in stock. We also have a standard and premium grade of Potting Mix for the creation of new gardens, as well as Pot and Planter Box filling. We even have watering cans for the easy application of the fertiliser and soil products!

We are stocking the highly-regarded Plant Doctor range of natural fertiliser, wetter, kelp, seaweed, & soil improvers. 

Plant Doctor specialises in organic products to help create healthier soils, plants and food. Organic fertilisers generally improve soil structure, allow microbes to thrive and are less harmful to pets and wildlife than their more chemically based counterparts.

And we have more to come! Stay tuned for further updates as we introduce even more new products including:

• Garden wall brackets and associated hanging pots that can be attached easily to a wall or fence. 
• Pots and small Planters.
• Special Pot / Planter box watering
• Holders for pots
• Small DIY raised garden beds for veges or flowers.

Call in and see us to collect all that you need to keep your garden looking beautiful this winter!

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How Long To Water Your Lawn

Water Thoroughly and Infrequently

The main reason why we advise people to start preparing their lawn in spring is not only because the lack of water at the moment has probably caused your lawn to dry out and start looking very brown if you’re not watering it regularly, but also because milder spring temperatures favour good root growth and the roots supply water to the grass blades.

So our advice is to water your lawn thoroughly and infrequently as this encourages deeper roots and deeper roots help lawns to prosper in hotter weather. Deep-rooted lawns can pull water from deeper depths and can wait several days between watering. This means they are stronger and less susceptible to disease and funghi. While it might sound counter-productive, giving your lawn a really good water a couple of times a week is far better than short periods of watering every day.

Best Time To Water Your Lawn

Water In The Morning Not At Night

It’s also best to water your lawns in the morning as lawns absorb water through the process of photosynthesis and this can only happen efficiently during daylight hours. If you water your lawn at night, much less of the water is absorbed and ends up running off. This is particularly problematic if you’re using fertilisers which just end up being run off into the water table and potentially polluting the environment.

Consider The Type of Lawn Grass You Have

Not all grass types require the same amount of water. To many Australians, grass is just grass but if you’re interested enough to care about how much water your lawn needs, it’s worth paying attention to the type of grass you have.

Some common varieties in Australia include: Kikuyu Grass (very durable and often used in schools and sports fields); Buffalo Grass (very durable, easy to grow and maintain); Couch Grass (easy-going and cheaper grass which can make for a great-looking lawn when treated correctly) and Tall Fescue (a cool season ‘instant-lawn’ variety though not quite as durable as some of the others). Cool season lawns require about 20% more water than warm season grasses.

Keeping your lawn lush and green throughout the year really isn’t that difficult and a decent sprinkler system will make for an easier job all round. Call in or browse our website to get all the lawn sprinkler parts you need to get a beautiful, healthy looking lawn.

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As the weather starts to warm up, we thought we would share our tips for positioning a garden micro sprinkler system for maximum efficiency and coverage. Remember that all product codes listed on the diagram can be searched and added to your basket from the search bar at the top right of the page.

• The distance between garden micro sprinkler system heads should be less than the radius of their throw. The sprinkler in the above diagram can comfortably throw 1.5 metres, so the next sprinkler should be no further than 1.5 metres away.
• If your garden is wide and you need more than 1 row of sprinklers, the next parallel sprinkler run should be no further away than 1 ⅓ times the radius of the smallest adjacent sprinklers (e.g. 1.5mt radius x 1.333 = maximum 2 mt to next parallel sprinkler run).
• Plants and trees can obstruct the sprinkler water, so closer is better if this will be happening.

At Designer Watering Systems we offer heaps of online resources to help residential DIYers to install systems themselves. Please be sure to take a look at our sprinkler system layout guide and if you need any detailed assistance we also offer a sprinkler layout design service to help you determine the optimum positions for your garden micro sprinkler system for maximum coverage.

For more tips and information about all the products available, please take a look at our Components View page. Also, feel free to call into the store for advice on parts or to collect your gear in person.

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Divide Your Property Into Zones

Different plants and your lawn require different amounts of water so the very first thing to do is to divide your property into zones. The lawns and gardens should be watered separately and then you can divide the plants or areas of your garden that may have different watering needs, including areas that may be more exposed to the sun. Identifying which areas may need more or less water is the most effective way to minimise water wastage.

Set The Timer On Your Domestic Irrigation System

The very best time to water your yard is early morning before the sun is hot enough to scorch your plants and lawn, so between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. is fine. Contrary to popular belief, watering in the evening is not a great idea as the water can remain on the plants or surrounding ground foliage and potentially cause fungus to develop.

Some sprinkler systems come with automatic timers and rain sensors so you don’t even have to think about switching it on and off.

Water At Intervals

Often watering in one long continuous session means that much of the water doesn’t get a chance to be absorbed and runs off which is obviously wasteful. Try a couple of shorter sessions of watering with breaks in between to allow the water to be absorbed into the ground

Consider The Time Of Year

While the weather can often be unpredictable, there are definite differences between the water requirements in your yard depending on the season. Winter in Queensland can actually be very dry and you often see plants and lawns suffering as a result of the inconsistent water that they get. Optimum water efficiency can be achieved by just being season-smart and adjusting your irrigation system accordingly.

Ensure Correct Positioning Of Domestic Irrigation Sprinklers

Finally, it’s worth taking the time to ensure that your sprinklers are correctly positioned so that the spray is reaching all the necessary areas and not hitting areas like your driveway.

As you can see, using water efficiently and effectively can be achieved with garden or lawn sprinkler systems. With a little thought and careful management, your domestic irrigation systems can ensure efficient and effective water usage.

If you need assistance with correct positioning of sprinklers, we have detailed information on the radius and distances required between different sprinkler nozzles to help you further.

And remember for help and assistance with sprinkler layout design, give us a call or drop us an email.

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Trenching For Sprinkler Installation

It’s obviously vital to check the location of underground services before you start digging so that you don’t inadvertently damage or sever existing lines.

Before you start digging all your trenches for your sprinkler installation, it’s also worth attaching a sprinkler head to a fitting to gauge the depth that will be required for lateral trenches. If several pipes are going in the same trench, you need to account for this too and ensure that pipes are laid side by side rather than on top of one another.

Controller Panel & Wiring

Make sure your controller is not installed on the same circuit as other high consumption items like air conditioning units, fridges, TVs etc.

Ensure your wiring connectors have a waterproofing sealant and where possible try and have a continuous run of cable between the controller and valves. This helps to minimise the possibility of short-circuits.

Installing Valves

Make sure valve boxes are on a solid level base. One common mistake is not checking the flow path on the valve. Check the indication on the valve and make sure your valve connection is pointing in the right direction.

Before you connect your sprinklers, go through each valve systematically, switch it on and flush the line of any blockages.

DIY Sprinkler Installation

Make sure that you install sprinkler heads vertically and flush with surface of the lawn or soil. Once you have connected them, check the arcs and radius of the sprinklers to ensure they are covering and reaching the areas you intended. Adjust this as necessary before fixing in place.

We have detailed information on the radius and distances required between different sprinkler nozzles to help you further.

And remember for help and assistance with sprinkler layout design, give us a call or drop us an email.

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When the weather turns drier, how many of us head out there with a watering can to give our plants a drink? Or get the hose out to spray the lawn?

No-one likes to see the garden we have invested so much money in planting and tending, succumbing to the harsh elements and turning brown.

The problem is that hand-watering just isn’t as effective as the water doesn’t really penetrate deep enough into the ground with sporadic watering. The most effective way of helping plants and lawns to thrive is regular, even watering.

So what the top 5 top sprinkler irrigation advantages?

1. Efficient Use Of Water

Contrary to popular belief, using a sprinkler system is actually a more efficient use of your water. It’s a bit like the difference between a bath vs a shower. We all know that a quick shower uses less water than a bath and so it is with a sprinkler system. Some systems also come with automatic timers and rains sensors to ensure your garden receives just the right amount of water.

2. Saves Time

Most of us are increasingly time poor nowadays and while some may see watering the yard as a relaxing pastime, many of us would prefer to be doing other things. With a sprinkler system you can ensure all the important areas of your yard are getting the right amount of water at the right time of day and the right frequency so you can make the most of the time you do have to get out there and enjoy it.

3. Saves Money

While the initial investment of installing a sprinkler system may seem quite high, in the longer term you are likely to save money on your water bills, especially if you are regularly hand-watering as you will be using less water to achieve a better outcome. Plus you won’t be regularly replacing plants that have succumbed to the dry conditions.

4. Eco-Friendly

Keeping our yards well-watered helps the native Australian flora to thrive as well as the plants we have invested in planting. So many of us spend hundreds of dollars every year on new plants to make our yard beautiful only to see them wither and die when the ground dries out. Maintaining a lush, healthy yard and nature strips adds to the appeal of your property and suburb.

5. A Healthy Garden All Year Round

Sprinklers are there when the rain is not. Installing a well-designed sprinkler system means you don’t have to worry what the weather is doing. Your garden will be getting just the right amount of water all year round.

So there you have it! 5 great reasons to invest in installing a well-designed garden or lawn sprinkler system and enjoy your yard at its best. What’s more at Designer Watering Systems we have everything to get you started from sprinkler kits to pipe and even a garden sprinkler layout design service. So what are you waiting for?

Browse our online store, give us a call on (07) 3279 5600, email us: [email protected] or call in and see us to get your sprinkler project underway.

The post 5 Key Sprinkler Irrigation Advantages appeared first on Designer Watering Systems.

Basic Rules

When looking to to install garden or lawn sprinklers yourself, we take you back to basics on garden irrigation systems DIY. So what’s the first things that you need to do?

Garden Irrigation Systems DIY

• Do your Bucket Test to determine how much water is available for use (see below).
• You will not be able to water your whole yard in one go with the water from one small pipe. Your system will therefore have to be broken down into zones as shown in our Sample Design.
• Visit the Sprinkler System Layout Guide page and note the ‘Head to Head’ minimum 100% overlap style of sprinkler layout.
• Sketch your area, preferably ‘To Scale’, then position your Sprinkler heads with reference to the Sprinkler Layout Page.
• If you have a Compass, mark in your Sprinkler’s watered area to better view your Layout, as most of your Sprinklers will water in a partial or full circle pattern.
• Keep to similar Sprinkler styles within a zone. (e.g. try not to mix Pop-up Sprinklers with garden micros, or rotating with non-rotating Sprinklers etc)
• Stay within a 30Lt/min flowrate for the 19mm Pipe, even if you have better flowrate results, as the faster moving water may cause blowouts. Refer to the Sprinkler Info page for your Lt/min Sprinkler head flowrates.
• When purchasing, you may find Shopping Carts to be quite time consuming if searching for a lot of different components. So after you’ve done your Sprinkler selection and Grouping, it may be easier to Print and ‘hand complete’ our Parts List before going to the Cart. Once your shopping list is complete, you can then simply click on the item from the Parts List page, and you will be taken straight through to that item in the Shopping Cart.

Flow Rate:

• When planning a watering system for your garden, you will need to know the flow rate of your water first. This will enable you to work out how many Sprinklers you can run at once from the Tap you will be using for your Sprinkler System.

How To Measure your Flow-Rate:

• Grab a standard household bucket (usually 9 or 10 litres capacity)
• Turn your Tap on full for maximum flow.
• Put your bucket underneath the Tap.
• Time how long the bucket takes to fill.

The Equation:

• Divide the size of the bucket (e.g. 9 litres) by the time taken to fill (e.g. 18 seconds): 9 ÷ 18 = 0.5 lt/sec
• Multiply the lt/sec result by 60 to give you litres per minute, and by another 60 for litres per hour.
• Use no more than 80% of this figure, as using 100% would leave you with insufficient pressure to enable water to be propelled from the sprinklers.

Putting The Equation To Use:

• Using 80% of 30 lt/min gives you 24 lt/min to use, which means if you have Sprinklers that require 8 lt/min or less to operate effectively, you could run 3 of these at once.

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A well-laid out watering system can be a very conservative and controlled method of keeping your selected gardens or lawns alive during long hot and dry weather spells. They can then also be turned down or completely off during dormant growth or wet times.

If you don’t have a watering system you can try your best to keep your yard well-watered or you can just let it succumb to the elements. Many of us though, have invested significantly to plant our yards well and keep our properties looking nice. Seeing our plants and lawns dying not only makes our gardens a less enjoyable place to spend time but means even more investment down the road to replace plants that have died.

With an effective watering system in place, you will reap some of the following advantages of automatic irrigation systems and also potentially keep your water bill down:

• Evenly cover a lawn or garden with a small amount of water just to give it a drink. A bit like humans, a small amount of water is better than none. Simplified, watering for a short time uses less water than watering for a longer time when comparing the same sprinklers over the same area.
• Select only areas that they want to keep alive.
• Select only areas that they want to keep useable.
• Select areas that they want to just keep looking good for their own pleasurable way of combatting the draining feeling of the constant heat & dryness.
• Water the whole yard using smaller doses to keep everything alive but not necessarily lush.

If you require assistance with installation of your garden or lawn sprinklers after you have purchased them through our shop, Designer Watering Systems works with 3 installation contractors who you can call on:

• Bob from R&S Irrigation, ph 0417 651 101, E [email protected]
• Peter from Clearwater Irrigation, ph 0488 665 528, E [email protected]
• Brian from Greenbank Pumps & Irrigation, ph 0400 149 173, E [email protected]

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