Please Help! Gardening & Your Garden

Hi, I am a final year Product Design student at Bournemouth University. I am currently running a project that looks into developing different ways in which people can water their garden.

In order to help me with my research it would be extremely helpful if you could complete my survey. It will take no longer than 5 minutes.

Gardening & Your Garden Survey

I would very much appreciate any pictures of your own garden and if you have a water butt where this is placed as this will help in the research.


Thank you
Dan


STAFF NOTICE
This request has been approved by admin as kosher!

 

All feedback is greatly appreciated

Dan

 

Question 10 is amusing. I have indeed spent 'much much money' in the garden centres

 

Sorry Dan, I get so much rain here I don't need a water butt. Greenhouse is watered with a can.

 

An easy student query at last.

 

Well presented survey Dan . I presume the watering questions are based on mid-summer ( whenever that was ! ). Also the GC and DIY store , does the annual spend apply to only plants and gardening related stuff ?

 

Sorted Dan

Water butt by the greenhouse, one from a downpipe and one free standing, unconnected to anything next to the shed.

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys it's greatly appreciated.

HarryS yes sorry i should of been more specific this is just supposed to be on general gardening equipment or plants.

Keep then surveys coming guys

Thanks once again!

Dan

 

Our rain water storage system has a capacity of 6000litres, which is fine provided that they are full. I drained them down last winter and closed the taps off to re fill at the end of Feb. This was way too late, and come May of this year, there was no water! I won't get caught out like that next year.

For ref Dan, the containers are called IBC's. The system is fed from the guttering, and the sunken tank is an animal water trough, which has a simple ball valve to control the water (like a loo) The system really needs to be pressure fed as gravity is just to slow. That may be one of my projects for next year.
Unlike the other tanks, the first tank isn't linked to the other tanks at the bottom. This was done for a specific reason that the first tank should simply act as a catchment tank and any debris can go into this tank without affecting the others. This first tank has to fill right up before it overflows into the second. If desired each tank can be shut off at the bottom, so allowing each tank to be filled fully. This has an advantage, that the water pressure appears to greater the higher the level in each tank.
To help prevent UV damage, I have put netting over the tanks and planted a climbing hydrangea and rambling rose to help cover the tanks. I have also now covered the tops of the tanks with old leaves and beech nut shells. Both were small enough to go through the mesh, but hopefully shouldn't come back out.

If you require any other photos via email just let me know.

 

not sure why there are hardly any irrigation systems using boreholes in the UK for the larger gardens?

it's common in South Africa .... sink a borehole (if there is underground water on your property), add a submersible pump, a few pop up sprinklers on the lawn, and a proper irrigation system for the plants/bedding coupled to a computerised system

it's not very expensive, increases the value of your property, and the water table is shallow in many parts of the UK, so you don't need to drill deep

 

Define "not very expensive".

 

A friend just paid £5000 for a borehole on the proviso that if the company didn't hit water no charge was made.


They found water and he now supplies his two homes on the site, various duck ponds, a livery and every other need for free. He'll make his money back in a couple of years but £5k is a prohibitive initial outlay for a lot of people.