Automatic Fertilizing System

Yard makeover can conserve water and help the environment

Jay and Elisa Klock knew it was time to lose the lawn.

The Folsom, Calif., couple had considered a dramatic makeover of their yard for several years. As water costs went up, the Klocks decided the time was right to ditch the turf.

They chose a landscape that was more in keeping with their lifestyle. As a bonus, their new yard saved water.

"One thing that prompted us to do it is that Sacramento County had been rationing water for two years," Jay Klock said. "We became more aware and want to save water. Also, our front lawn was on a severe slope; when we watered, it all ran off."

"It was so hard to keep the lawn nice-looking," Elisa Klock said. "But that's not a problem now."

In their front yard, the lawn was replaced with a Mediterranean landscape filled with color. Something is always in bloom. Instead of steep steps, a curved path guides visitors to their front door.

The Klocks' sloped backyard had suffered from drainage problems. A tiny patio offered little room to entertain, and the lawn always struggled.

"When it rained, it looked like a marsh," Elisa Klock said.

Now, they have an outdoor living room, kitchen and den, carved out of the formerly bland backyard. Raised beds edged in quartzite hold roses and colorful perennials such as day lilies, lavender and wallflower. Two fountains add soothing sound.

"I always wanted a larger yard," Elisa Klock said. "It turned out we always had the space but didn't know it."

Converting from a turf-focused landscape to water-wise plantings is a trend seen throughout drought-prone areas.

In Sacramento, such efforts often come under the umbrella of "river-friendly landscaping." While saving water, residents also can help local rivers and native wildlife.

Outdoor landscaping accounts for most home water use in summer. Turf grass - or, more specifically, the typical cultivation of lawns -- tops the list of non-river-friendly landscaping.

Automated Fertilizing Systems for Your Greenhouse | The Do It ...

Much more if you keep the number of boring chores to the minimum. Since watering and fertilizing are the most time-consuming tasks you have to do in the greenhouse, it makes sense to try and automate a system to do both. Fortunately, once you install a good automatic watering system you are half-done with automating a fertilizing system as well.

The most efficient way of distributing fertilizer to your greenhouse plants is to do it together with water. For example, your drip irrigation system delivers water directly to the roots of plants. If you add fertilizer to that water, nutrients will also go directly to the plants’ roots. And the best thing is: there is no waste. Each plant gets just enough fertilizer to meet its needs, which can be adjusted by controlling your watering system.

Depending on how often you want to fertilize your greenhouse plants, an automatic fertilizing system can be regulated to deliver a diluted ratio of fertilizer and water, up to 1000:1. The more often you fertilize, the weaker the ratio of fertilizer in the water should be. If separated; the fertilizer delivery system is connected to the water supply only when you wish to fertilizer plants. You can stop it and start it whenever you need it.

Drip irrigation system is the most suitable system to be used in conjunction with an automatic dispenser for fertilizer. There are two basic automatic fertilizing systems for the average DIYer: siphoned and injected.

The siphon type system resembles a double fitting for a hose, where one end is connected to the water source, and other, through a pipe, to the container with fertilizer. The container can be a bucket in which you poured a concentrated water-soluble fertilizer, or the syphon system may come with its own container, with already pre-mixed water-fertilizer solution. When you turn the water on, fertilizer gets sucked from the container and delivered to plants through the irrigation system, resulting in a diluted solution before reaching your plants.

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