With today’s extreme weather patterns, drought intensity is predicted by Met Office climate models to increase, and irrigation is an element of garden design which can’t be overlooked.
South-East based garden designer, Laura Anstiss, always includes an irrigation system in each plan.
“Generally, I work with a lot of developers on plots which are over an acre in size, and this includes plenty of new builds. Even if the system isn’t installed, we lay conduits, which can be used at a later date to pull through electrics and irrigation if needed without having to take up any slabs,” says Laura.
“I see a lot of flooding and waterlogging, but during the summer months we experience drought, and efficient irrigation can encourage plants to grow up to three times as fast if it’s strategically placed.
“I have used LeakyPipe irrigation systems for the last five years. It’s a porous hose, not a pipe with holes in, so you can sink it and hide it. The holes don’t get blocked and every situation I’ve used it in has been successful,” she says.
“It’s reliable and it accurately distributes water, so it saves time and reduces water use, and it lasts for years.”
Laura explains that the only irrigation challenge is in educating clients about watering plants at key times and noticing when the soil is drying out. “I recommend certain maintenance schemes, and generally the challenge is to gauge when to start watering, but once this is explained, it works like clockwork and I’ve never had any negative feedback from the systems.” LeakyPipe Systems Ltd is run by Chris Fermor, and he’s been using this innovative porous rubber material since the mid 80’s.
“LeakyPipe HQ used to be a soft fruit and top fruit farm, and we first used the “Leaky” to boost our yields strawberries and raspberries. It was invented by an American chap, but he wasn’t a horticulturalist & didn’t know what to do with the idea in the UK. We added our knowledge to the product and put it into commercial growing situations and proved that it was good as a long-term investment. It’s still used here within our soft fruit production, albeit a smaller operation than in the eighties,” says Chris.
“Since then, we have found ourselves effectively servicing the landscaping and horticultural market for over 28 years,” he says.
According to Chris, most of the pipe is hidden under ground, and it ‘sweats’ water through its porous wall for more thorough “banded” watering.
“We’ve done some amazing projects, including some important London Plane trees beside the Ticket Office of The Tower of London. We installed the irrigation system for these trees because they were to survive with their roots in a concrete-lined trench! Since 2004, nobody would know it’s there, and it’s been successfully watering the trees for 13 years,” says Chris.
“We do a lot of hedging, trees, garden and varied landscape projects. We don’t get much feedback, meaning its working as it should. It’s proved that where its used well, it keeps going for over ten years,” he adds.
Leaky Pipe Systems supplies the materials to put together what you need. The company also supports customers with maintenance and installation advice, and they make LeakyPipe in house, in Kent, to keep a close eye on quality. For more information, visit: https://www.leakypipe.co.uk/
