Watering the Pots

I have more then 300 roses in pots, waiting patiently for space in the garden.  As hot as it has been so far this summer, keeping them watered has been a real challenge.

This is the temperature in the shade on our back deck as of 2:00 pm today:

About half of the pots live along the fence behind the greenhouse. Over the weekend, I had an idea to make watering them easier.

I am using my stash of parts to make up an irrigation line that should cut the watering time (and effort) considerably.  I ran a piece of 1/2" tubing down the center of the lines of pots, inserting a group of four feeder tubes every one foot along its length.

The other end of each feeder tube has a Shrubbler to water the pot. 

These little sprinklers are completely adjustable, so each pot can get just the amount of water it needs.

This set up will water about 180 pots, and it will cut my workload considerably.  All I have to do is hook up the hose and let it run for about 15 minutes while I'm doing something else.

Ultimately, I still have to get more gardens designed and built to hold all of these roses.  This new irrigation system will keep the roses happier, and more evenly watered, until then.  It will also make my life a bit less stressful.

I'll be hiding in the a/c working on indoor projects for the next few days.

(written by Hartwood Roses.  Hartwood Roses blog.)