Water, H2O, Aqua, etc...

[Scoot]

I don't have a tap in my garden either, I just have 2 water cans which I have to walk in and out with re-filling. Bit of a chore sometimes, especially this past week when it has been dry. Depending on how dry it has been and how much of the garden actually needs watering, walking in and out with two 7 litre watering cans, re-filling and re-filling can sometimes take up to 45 minutes per night. That is of course if I decide to water everything in garden.

[mothhawk]

I haven't the space to put everything further apart, I prefer to water.

Neither do I, but if I did, I would

[Alison]

It depends a bit on the soil. I have tried not watering things in my veg garden, but as it is constructed on the remains of a patio, it is about 50% sand and drains like a sieve. I've taken to filling milk bottles with a couple of small holes in the bottom and puttign the caps back on, so that the water drips out slowly. The alternative is seriously wilted plants.

That's true but over the years you can improve the soil by the addition of organic matter which is better spent effort

[Penellype]

That's true but over the years you can improve the soil by the addition of organic matter which is better spent effort

Indeed. The patio was taken up 3 years ago, when the "soil" was 100% sand. I pinched a bit of topsoil from the flower garden in front, which has had 15 years of compost, horse muck and mulches, and emptied my compost bin onto it. I've since added as much compost as the levels will allow each year, but it still drains because of the sand and probably hardcore underneath.

Its an interesting garden to manage actually because the whole of the rest of the soil is heavy clay, improved by years of compost etc, and tends to suffer from waterlogging due to a clay pan and high water table. Sometimes I literally have puddles standing on top of the soil, and this is a general feature of this area. Unfortunately the patio I had taken up was at the highest point of the garden, so it would have been the driest place anyway.