WaterRight Garden Webtool

Choose a name that is easy to remember e.g. Alisa’s Garden.

To discover how much water your lawn areas need to remain healthy, choose from the options listed to describe how you would like each area to look in summer e.g. average – green and sparse.

Many people still water with a hose, which can deliver up to 15 litres of water a minute. This webtool assumes that your hose is delivering 15 litres a minute.

For those who use a watering can or bucket, this webtool assumes that the volume of a watering can or bucket is equivalent to 9 litres.

Depending on your drip irrigation design and/or installation, not all your covered soil area will get wet. Turn on your system and watch how the water is spread over one square metre for half an hour.

Soil structure refers to how compacted your soil is and can be assessed by how easily a large (25 cm) screwdriver or similar implement can be pushed into the top layers of soil.

Push the screwdriver into the soil, using a moderate and even pressure. If the screwdriver penetrates easily or with moderate resistance your soil structure is non-compacted. If there is a lot of resistance then the soil structure is compacted.

In many cases you may have different layers of soil within the first 30 cm of depth. Assess your soil depth the same way you assessed its structure, by pushing a large (25 cm) screwdriver into the top layers of the soil. Keep note of how deeply the screwdriver penetrates before it is too difficult to keep pushing in.

Remove the screwdriver and measure the depth it has penetrated with a ruler or tape measure and select the most appropriate depth (in mm).

The amount of shade your garden areas receive plays a big part in deciding how much water is needed to keep your plants healthy. Shade reduces evaporation, so the water stays in the plant and soil for longer. It is best to assess shade in your garden during summer.

Canberra gardens are particularly affected by hot, dry summer winds from the north and west. This often occurs in the new and establishing suburbs, where there are few large trees and windbreaks. If your garden is in these areas or is otherwise subject to these types of wind, this will increase the amount of water your exposed lawn areas need.

Canberra gardens are particularly affected by hot, dry summer winds from the north and west. This often occurs in the new and establishing suburbs, where there are few large trees and windbreaks. If your garden is in these areas or is otherwise subject to these types of wind, this will increase the amount of water your exposed lawn areas need.

Select one of the three categories that best describes the impact of northerly and westerly wind on your lawn area.