Irrigation

[Farol]

We turn our irrigation off in the winter and then back on as the weather dries and heats up.

Every year I try different settings in terms of frequency and duration when we have it on but never seem to get it right. Some years we have killed plants through overwatering and other years we have lost some because we have not watered enough.

We don't have any grass - just shrubs and flowering plants.

I'm wondering what duration & frequency other owners use.

We visit every 6 weeks approx so can change settings as the season progresses.

[EMM]

Oursis OFF at the moment, but normally in winter duringdry periods it comes on once during the day rather than at night.
This is because if the temp drops close to freezing which it can do , wet plants do not like it and damage or worse can happen.

[alf1956]

it is a hard thing to judge as you never know what the weather will be like apart from the hot months May,June,July&August as in those months you have to irrigate twice a day fro about 15 mins per session,we usually water late at night when the sun has gone down & in the early hours before sunrise so the water has time to soak in as watering during the scorching sun does very little. like a previous post says it should be off for the winter as we usually get enough rain&morning dew.march, April are tricky months to decide about as i have known April to be very hot but also quite rainy.same with September&October.

[LICY]

We have ours off now too and do not have any grass. We turned it off when we came, out, in early/mid November from memory. It's still off and will stay off for now. The only irrigation on is for the pots on the terrace. Being out on a very regular basis I would say gauge it from that. Our garden was planted March 2012 - June 2012. I understand once it has been established for 2 years things should need less water.