Living here in the UK, you might wonder about the necessity for an automatic irrigation system. If you’ve ever asked yourself ‘why does my garden need irrigation?’ we’re here to give you some answers.

The importance of regularity

The first question you probably ask is about British weather. It rains a lot here, doesn’t it? Don’t our plants get enough water naturally? Well, that very much depends on the plant, and, in any case, the total amount of natural rainfall a plant receives each year is not the full story. It’s not just a yearly total that matters – lots of your plants need predictable, regular watering. If you’re growing plants for vegetables, fruit or flowers, that regular application is even more crucial. If a plant needs water more frequently than it rains, it won’t thrive as well.

Imagine a person being allowed nothing to drink during the week, but given as much water as they wanted on a Sunday. They would not thrive like this, even if their total water intake was the same as someone drinking small amounts each day. Like humans, plants have a need for a regular intake, at whatever frequency that plant needs. An automatic watering system applies water regularly. The amount and frequency is programmed into the controller so you don’t even have to think about it.

How multi-zone systems take care of differing requirements

But each plant is different, isn’t it? Won’t some plants prefer different amounts of water or being watered more often? Yes! That’s where multi-zone garden irrigation systems come in.

Rosewood multi-zone systems give every plant the exact amount of water that it needs, at exactly the right intervals. We put plants with similar requirements together on one irrigation zone. If necessary we can create a system with twenty or more different zones. Each zone has separately programmable watering schedules, all controlled electronically. Every plant, whether it’s a blade of grass, a flower, a shrub or a tree, can rely on the irrigation system to give just the water that suits it best.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, it’s true that average annual rainfall in the UK is reasonably high compared to less temperate climates. So when weather is wet, isn’t an irrigation system wasteful? If the weather is rainy, isn’t it watering unnecessarily? No! Our systems have rain sensors that identify when the ground is already wet, so the irrigation does not switch on at that time. A Rosewood system doesn’t waste a drop!

Our increasingly dry summers

In any case, our seasons are changing with global warming. Our summers are becoming hotter and drier, so that in summer months, gardens can go weeks without any rain at all. What do you do if your garden is too big to water manually? Or if you want to go on holiday? Garden irrigation will ensure that plants don’t suffer in dry spells. If you’re away from home you can even control it from your phone if you feel that what’s already been programmed needs changing for any reason.

There are so many reasons why an irrigation system beats manual watering. We really enjoy helping gardens thrive. So if you have any questions, get in touch. Call us on 01727 811448 or send us a message via our Contact Form and we’ll be happy to chat about your requirements.