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Rocky Mountain Gardening

Patio Garden Irrigation Issues

7 years ago

Hi everyone,

I haven't been on in a long while, been busy with school. I just had a quick question for the collective...

I recently moved apartments and now have a ground level patio. My issue is whoever put in the irrigation heads decided they needed 2 sprayers 5 inches from the pad of my patio. I have heard over and over that watering too much causes problems, I know this... but since they are in containers(dry out faster) could the irrigation be used instead of watering? I'm planning to ask the office to fix the issue, but not sure if they actually will. So, worst case scenario... can I just let this water my plants every night and hope for the best? It only runs for about 5-7 minutes.

I'd like to think of a way to block the blast of water with boards or something, but not sure what would work without messing up their grass or being unsightly. Any ideas?

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Comments (4)

maxinmontrose
7 years ago
Lot of variables here, it sounds like. Are your pots clay, which dry out pretty quickly, or plastic? Do they have good drainage? How much sun and wind does your patio get? What kind of things are you growing? Without knowing all those factors, I can envision daily watering being OK or disastrous!

As for blocking the spray...presuming these are pop up heads? Might be possible to ask for heads that only spray in a semicircle, away from the patio.
ZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
7 years ago
You could change out the heads yourself under the cover of darkness haha.
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popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)
7 years ago
Is there such a thing as "watering too much" in Colorado? I can't picture it. I sometimes have to water my containers twice a day.
oakiris
7 years ago
As mentioned by max, it does depend upon what you are growing, the potting mix you use, how much water actually gets into the pots and whether or not your pots are "breathable" terracotta clay or "unbreathable" glazed or plastic pots. I am also not sure whether or not getting 5-7 minutes of water a night would be enough to thoroughly water the plants. To be honest, I really can't imagine that such a short watering cycle would do much for the grass the complex is trying to maintain, either, but then I seem to believe in watering an area deeply and a lot less frequently to encourage deep root growth, so what do I know? (My sprinkler system consists of my arms, hands and legs, hoses and hose-end watering devices, lol.)

"Is there such a thing as "watering too much" in Colorado? I can't picture it. I sometimes have to water my containers twice a day."

Sometimes it does indeed seem as if there is never enough water during those hot, dry days of summer, but.... Are you perhaps using small containers, popmama? Otherwise, it doesn't seem right that you should have to water every day, let alone twice a day. Most of the containers I use are relatively large (20 gallons or more) and I use them for herbs, some veggies (peppers mostly,) and annuals. I think it would drive me nuts (nuttier?!?) if I had to water my containers twice a day. I don't normally even have to water them once a day, just a few times a week, depending upon whether or not Mama has given us some rain or just lots of sun and heat.

Holly

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