Heavenly Beverley : Waterwise Wizardry in our Garden.

This week, we've had a couple of miracle workers in our garden. They were an unusual dynamic duo. Jon Martin, mild mannered, unflappable Big Chief and Fearless Leader of Red Gecko Landscaping and Reticulation was joined by his faithful sidekick Jaden, a 23 year old, cheerfully scary electrical bull in a china shop, who is already married with a little girl.

They arrived on Monday morning with a Cunning Plan to transform our watering regime and reduce our water bills. Jon was resplendent in khaki pants, long sleeved shirt, dark glasses and hat. Jaden (foolish lad) initially rebuffed the wearing of a hat. By the third day, he was wearing a hat. Either my nagging or the fierce sun here convinced him that covering his head and face was a good idea.

They started out with a tour of the grounds. Then the excavations began. Very impressive, mobile, mini ditch witch created a myriad of trenches across our property. Then came the hardware - big poly pipe with galvanised risers and brass sprinklers in the back to foil the Beagle and drip system to front gardens (where the Beagle isn't permitted!).

Finally the Control Box next to the meter box and the weather sensor was perched jauntily on the edge of our roof.. Whoa. I felt like I've been dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Jon and Jaden worked like navvies for three days. I fed them lunch and and a roast lamb dinner on the first day. On the second morning, they suffered extreme digestive discomfort and financial destitution eating breakfast at a local cafe that should be ashamed of itself. Lunch was not desired by either of them. They recovered enough for a bbq on the second evening. I cooked them a better, cheaper breakfast on their third morning.

We had to leave them to their own devices on Wednesday. A GP appointment for Michael and picking up my hot little buzzbox in Northam was a full day of action. Our timing went out the window, as per usual, and we didn't mange to pull into the House that Rocks until 3.30pm.

Jon and Jaden had completed the mammoth task. And quoted to retic Colleen's lawn behind us. And packed the ute. And cleaned up. Jon had even showered and changed into civvies. He explained the intricacies of the system to us. Then we waved Jon, Jaden and the Red Gecko ute goodbye as they roared off into the late afternoon.

Would the system work? Would the system self destruct after 10 seconds? I waited with bated breath.

The retic was supposed to activate automatically at 5am. I suspected the retic didn't rise to the occasion. Concerned, (panicking) I rang Jon. He told me to chill and set my alarm. The retic then came on at 5pm. I'll have to ring Jon to see how to differentiate between am and pm!

We actually had a few spots of rain yesterday. But we decided to run the system manually anyway, so we could check all the fittings and make any adjustments needed. We discovered there were only two plants in our entire garden that weren't getting water. All that will require is an extra riser. And we are waiting for Jon to get back to us with an additional quote for our lawn area.

Even without automatic watering of the lawn, this system is going to revolutionise our lives. No more standing outside for two or three hours hand watering. No more worrying about the garden if we aren't here. No more restrictions on timing to go away to our beloved Goldfields.

Was the reticulation expensive? For us, absolutely. Was it worth every cent? Yes. Will it save time, money, hassle and worry? You bet. We are utterly delighted with the result. Thank you to Jon and Jaden, a couple of waterwise wizards from Red Gecko.

Now, we only have to mulch....