Elizabeth Davis
With over 12 years dedicated to garden irrigation systems, she has tested hundreds of hoses, drip kits, and sprinkler setups in real growing conditions.
With over 12 years dedicated to garden irrigation systems, she has tested hundreds of hoses, drip kits, and sprinkler setups in real growing conditions.
Installing an automatic watering system is not something to improvise, or you risk some unpleasant surprises!
Your automatic watering plan needs to be thought out step by step, based on the layout of your property, your goals, and of course your budget.
1. Pressure and Flow Rate
This is the first, essential step: it lets you know what water resource you have available, so you can plan your project accordingly.
- Pressure is measured using a pressure gauge at the water inlet supplying your system (mains water or pump). It should be at least 2 bar and no more than 5 bar. Above that, you’ll need to fit a pressure reducer.
- Flow rate should be above 1.5 m³/h and sufficient to supply all the watering devices intended to run at the same time. Any shortfall can be offset with appropriate programming (alternating watering between zones). Flow rate information is available on your water supplier contract or your pump’s manual. It’s advisable to double-check simply by timing how long it takes to fill a 10-litre container (for 10 litres in 12 seconds: 10/12×3.6 = 3 m³/h).
2. Paper and Pencil (or Screen and Mouse)
At this stage, you need to draw up a precise, to-scale plan of your future system. This plan will let you know exactly what you need for optimal efficiency, based on the type, surface area, and layout of the zones to be watered, as well as their distance from the water supply point: pipe length, types and number of sprinklers, solenoid valves, fittings, etc.
3. Watering Lines: Take Stock
Depending on the type of zones (lawns, vegetable garden, orchard, flower beds…), you determine as many watering lines as needed, each controlled by a solenoid valve, itself managed by a controller. To create automatic watering for a vegetable garden, you can install a drip irrigation system.
Ideally, the pipes will be buried and connected to specific sprinklers, the number and layout of which will depend on their coverage area:
– The pop-up spray head (1), retractable, is ideal for borders, small lawns, shrubs…
– The rotor (2), or rotary jet sprinkler, also retractable, is suited to larger green spaces.
Note that rotors and pop-up spray heads should not be installed on the same watering line.
– The drip emitter (7), connected to or built into the pipe, delivers just the right amount of water at the base of vegetable garden plants or ornamental beds.
– The micro-sprinkler (8) is especially suited to flower beds.
4. The Controller (4), Conductor of the Solenoid Valves
Choosing a good controller for optimal watering, ideally paired with a rain sensor, will depend on the scale of the system and the level of convenience you want: – Controllers and solenoid valves powered by 9V batteries can be installed in buried locations, on land without access to mains power.
– The centralised controller, connected to the mains and to multiple solenoid valves, can manage up to 22 watering lines.
– The “tap nose” controller regulates localised automatic watering.
For maximum convenience, we offer the SOLEM range, which lets you freely programme your entire system via a smartphone and tablet app, over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Having followed this detailed plan, building an automatic watering system should now feel straightforward. By choosing an automatic watering system, you target the plant directly and give it just the right amount of water, slowly and steadily. Our shop’s team is on hand to give you the advice you need to install your micro-irrigation equipment.
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Pipes & Fittings: PEX, Multilayer, Copper, PVCWatering Accessories: Hoses, Timers and Drip IrrigationTimers & Programmable Controllers: Irrigation, Electrical Outlet, SmartPumps: Surface, Submersible or Sump PumpsSprinklers & Nozzles: Oscillating, Rotary, DripDrip Irrigation & Micro-Irrigation: Garden Kits and Drippers