Fast breaking news

The second rain barrel is installed. Photos to follow. And one of the raised beds became mulched while I was out getting lunch.

I love having garden helpers.

Technical stuff, blah blah blah

I bought my second rain barrel today. The first one is full again, after one day of drizzle.

The model I bought is the Raincatcher 4000. It sounds like something Harry Potter would use. Here is the photo I used to figure out how to set it up. Green Venture is a local Hamilton company. I bought mine at Home Depot, and it looks like one of the most popular models in North America. I chose it because it was less expensive than a lot of others, it looked slightly less conspicuous, and I thought that the screen mesh top would let the water remain fresh, or something. Probably wrong, but I kept thinking that dirty water from the roof, in an enclosed tank, might get kind of skunky or something. I put a tablespoon or so of dishwashing detergent in the barrel to prevent mosquitos from hatching. We don't need a West Nile Virus breeding programme.

There is a runoff spigot at the back, and some 1 1/2 inch hose supplied. That runoff spigot can be connected to an adjacent rainbarrel, or the hose can be used to direct water away from the building foundation. It seemed complicated, and it was only after the barrel was full after one day of rain that I realized that I needed a runoff system.

The barrel comes with two outlets at the bottom, one open, the second closed, but you could open it by cutting off the end. They are 5/8 inch diameter, to fit a regular garden hose over the end. The hose provided has a simple switch to control water flow.

The irrigation system I chose is from Lee Valley Tools, one of my favourite stores on earth. They have an extensive section on Drip Irrigation. The web site is extremely informative, and let me design exactly what I needed. They even recommend the variation to use for rain barrels, as opposed to higher pressure water flow from the tap.

I used a basic initial set up. A t-filter (which is a connector with a tube of screen inserted) connects to the hose, which takes the grunge out of the water so it doesn't clog up the irrigation thingies. Next is a hose header which also includes a filter. The hose header is threaded on one end, and then lets you just push the hose into the other, to create a custom hose set up. I chose the 1/2 inch header, the main pipe that feeds the system. They also have 5/8 inch header hose. I cut the header hose to length, and using one right angle connector, made a loop through the garden. They, I took the little hole punch, and made holes in the hose for each plant. A connector snaps into the hole, then a 1/4 inch hose slides over the end of the connector. And the other end of the 1/4 inch hose goes to the watering head.

I chose drip spikes. These are spikes, which are secured into the ground at the base of each plant, with the 1/4 inch hose connected to one side, and a little spout on the other. And like the name says, it just drips water.

For the week that the system was set up, each drip spike created a watered area at the base of each plant that measures about 1 foot in diameter. Plenty for the perennials, roses, and other shrubs in the garden. I have 9 drip spikes connected. On the weekend, I bought 25 more, and another 50 feet of header hose. Because I will need them for the second rain barrel.

I also bought an IV drip watering bag, which I can fill up and set up on the other side of the front steps. I love these for the name as much as anything else. It won't feed directly from the rain barrel, but I can fill it up from the barrel. If this works, I can use these all over the property. You'll recognize my house by the sight of little bags of water suspended from stakes all over the gardens.

Now I need another sunny day, to follow the instructions "let the pvc pipe warm up in the sun for 30 minutes before installing". Sometime in June.

Progress, of sorts

It was a cool, rainy, muddy day, which was, of course, perfect for gardening. I spent a few hours at Dad's, having decided to try and remove the ugly, neglected, overgrown shrubs. He had central air conditioning installed, and they installers pulled out two smaller shrubs, so I tackled the rest.

I discovered, in the midst of the shrubs, a nice little patch of raspberry canes. With some advice and help, they are now pruned, and look pretty (which is important). I took out three shrubs, and cut the remaining specimen back to ground level. It already had a few small shoots.



Next, I went to the larger bed, and took out 4 more. One was just too large at the base to be attractive, one was growing almost entirely sideways because it was planted in the shade of the house, and one was interfering with the downspout. I left two, also with nice growth starting at the base.



And in this photo, you can see the peony that was apparently successfully transplanted. And in the previous photo, you can see a second peony, that was very sad when I put it in, but has perked up considerably. You can't see the very small roses, that are about 2 inches each, with three leaves. I have great hope for these as well.