Gardening watering systems can be time-saving and convenient, but they are often heavy water wasters because they turn on whether it is raining or not.

Drip or trickle systems

These are probably the most efficient, particularly for larger vegetables, fruit trees, bushes, shrubs, hanging baskets. They are also very good for sloping areas as they minimise run off wastage. However, they are no good for lawns.

A typical dripper delivers 2, 4 or 8 litres of water an hour. Thirty drippers at 4 litres gives you 120 litres of water in a hour, exactly where you want it. One pop-up sprinkler would spray 1,000 litres in the same time, and still not necessarily reach all the important areas.

Sprinklers and microsprays

Pop-up sprinklers are most effective when used to water large lawns. They may be controlled by turning on and off the tap by hand, or preferably through a timer.

Microsprays are best suited for annuals, shrubberies and small irregular areas of the garden.

Be sure not to let your sprinkler spray the road or concrete as they do not grow.

In fact, the Australian Water Resources Council said that automatic sprinkler systems 'contribute to ineffectual use and misuse of water for garden requirements.'

Both sprinklers and microsprays are usually available with a choice of jets to give you different spray patterns and angles.

Automatic watering systems

While they may be convenient, automatic sprinkler systems are not necessarily efficient or effective because they turn on whether it is raining or not.