Urban Greening 2022

WaterUps^® is a 21st century take on an age-old wisdom – wicking. Made and manufactured in Australia from recycled plastic, it is the world’s first scalable wicking system that can be used in any shape or sized garden, making it extremely versatile.

Using Perlite as the wicking agent it is incredibly water-efficient – in raised garden beds WaterUps uses 20% of the water of top-down irrigation systems. The reservoir that is part of the system can hold 110 L for every 1m². Learn more about WaterUps here.

WaterUps is ideal for local councils wanting to improve urban greenery because it helps get plants and young trees off to a better start. By delivering water closer to the roots it means less water is loss to evaporation during hot periods.

The reservoir system means the plants can draw up the water as they need it. Because the system efficiently uses water – and can store rainwater – it means councils can gain numerous financial and other benefits from using WaterUps:

• Reduce the need to water plants as often
• Use less water
• Promote a higher survival rate for young plants
• Enable a more extensive planting program
• Help with flood mitigation due to rainwater capture capability

Learn more about how we can work with councils here.

As most people are aware, the NSW government is aiming to address the overheating of Sydney by planting 5 million trees by 2030, increasing the city’s tree canopy from 16 to 40 per cent.

We have been working with two local councils since March 22 on tree planting trials which are proving the benefits outlined above. This trial will give us a better understanding of the systems performance in open ground, allowing us to advise more accurate watering intervals. The initial results o will be announced March 2023 with a full report after three years in March 2025.

The trial will enable local government across greater Sydney and other areas to confidently install WaterUps as the key technology for ensuring better tree planting success and longevity.

WaterUps is also an ideal solution for property developers looking to provide greener cooler buildings and engender sustainability and water efficiency within their building envelope.

This includes rooftop gardens, interior gardens, building estates, streetscapes and more.

The system was originally designed to work in raised garden beds and can be fashioned to any shaped pot or bed, to deliver the benefits of wicking while supporting a variety of plant species, including shrubs and trees.

For property developers and landscape architects and designers it helps ensure their vision lives on through a watering system that is less problematic and less labour intensive. Learn more here.

Gardening Australia gardening experts, Costa Georgiadis and Sophie Thomson, are big fans of WaterUps. Amongst the products many benefits is the ability for the TV hosts to be able to return home after filming stints to plants that are surviving not dying because of lack of water.

It is the waterholding capacity of the reservoir and the way it wicks that they value the most.

“I started with one. I have 22 raised garden beds with WaterUps in them. That’s 1 m² beds as well as 80m²of in-ground veggie garden and actually if I knew about them when I started my veggie garden, probably 2/3rds of them would be wicking beds. They literally make gardening easier.”
Sophie Thomson