This is what we started with.
Firstly the garden was placed with the long side facing north in order to get the most sun and was put in an area where there were no sharp objects which might pierce the liner. The corrugated base was put inside the garden.
This was followed by the liner which was attached to the edges of the bed with clips. There were slits in the liner so that it could fit around the steel rod across the middle of the bed. The PVC pipe was positioned in the bed.
You can see the holes in the pipe in this photo.
Then a hole was drilled through the outside of the bed into the pipe.....
and attached with a screw.
.6 of a metre of cypress woodchip was then put on top of the liner and pipe. Hubby did a bit of a dance on top of the woodchip to compress it but the instructions were to press it down hard with the palm of your hand to settle it. Then water was added to the level of the woodchip.
Three 10cm horizontal slits were made in the liner which were level with the woodchip. This allows the excess water to drain.
Then the fibre matting was placed on top.
The garden was then filled with composted soil.
The reservoir was filled to overflowing....
and the timber 'dipstick' was marked with a nick to show the level of water. This can be left in the pipe and will indicate when the water is getting low. The lid was then put on the pipe.
Once the soil has settled we will plant some seedlings and I am looking forward to seeing what our harvest will be. I am also looking forward to being able to lessen our water usage and reduce our water bill.
If you would like to learn more about these gardens then check out the Watersaver Garden website.
Now the question is.....what to plant?
A lot of work, hope is saves your water bill and grows delicious veg.
ReplyDeleteNo Deb, watching and taking photos isn't a lot of work at all. LOL!
ReplyDeleteThat looks good!
ReplyDeleteLooks and sounds good Nanna Chel. I will watch with interest to see how this bed goes. My ollas are doing okay (am doing a blog post soon I promise). I fill them about every three days depending on the weather. The soil seems to keep pretty damp underneath which is what I wanted to achieve. Even when the ollas have run dry the soil around is still damp. The good news is that hubby has hooked up our rain water tanks to the garden, so I wont be using that horrid tap water anymore! Will be keeping a close eye on our tanks to check the water levels. The only tap water used will be in the house...so happy right now :D
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to your blog post on the ollas, Tania. I hope to buy some terracotta pots this week to make some in the hope of cutting down on our town water consumption.
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