A PLANT WATERING AID ENCLOSURE

Abstract: A water-retaining enclosure is formed around a plant (10) by joining the ends (18) of a wall (12) of flexible, water-impervious material, so as to form a circle around the plant, the wall then being inserted into the ground with a desired height (16) of the wall projecting above the ground. The wall has projections (20, 30, 32, 40) at intervals on a first side (21) and recesses (22, 31, 42) on the other or second side (19) to engage at least some of said projections for sealingly securing opposite end portions of the wall together.

Description: A PLANT WATERING AID ENCLOSURE This invention relates to plant watering aids, in particular with the object of providing a continuous supply of water to the roots of a plant. It is known to enclose a plant so as to retain water around its roots: thus the document GB-A-1 604 846 discloses a ring in the form of a wall or panel planted in the ground around the plant such as to confine liquid or fertiliser within it, especially on sloping ground. The document US-A-4 809 460 discloses a curved elongated member planted in the ground on the downhill side of a plant in sloping ground, so as to act as an earth-retaining wall or dam, retaining liquid on its uphill side. In GB-A-1 604 846, the ring may consist of a single member bent into an approximate circle and having its vertical free ends curled in such a way that they can be interlocked to define a vertical aperture through which an anchor pin can be driven to retain the ring in place. Alternatively the ring may be built up from a number of flat panels, interlocked in the same way at jheir ends. The enclosing ring can thus be built up in a variety of sizes and shapes, but only by adding a plurality of additional components. Similarly, if an enclosure of a different size or shape is required in the arrangement disclosed in US-A-4 809 460, the wall must be replaced by another. The disclosure of US-A-4 809 460 is directed to a permanent planting enclosure not intended to be removed. When watering plants (which term includes trees) in a garden where the plants may be of widely-varying sizes, with some plants in awkward positions and with possibly a relatively large number of plants requiring frequent and/or regular watering - especialy during prolonged periods of dry weather - there is a need for the watering operation to take as little time as possible, while at the same time involving minimum wastage of water. In addition, water applied too hastily can tend to escape on the surface instead of penetrating to the roots. It is therefore desirable to provide a moisture- retaining wall that can be placed around each plant in turn, quickly, easily and effectively, and then removed equally quickly and easily. The wall should in addition be capable of being easily adaptable to the shape and size appropriate to each individual plant or group of plants temporarily enclosed within it, and to the shape and size of the ground accessible around the plant or plants. According to the invention, a plant watering aid comprising a wall of flexible water-impervious material, adapted to be formed into a continuous wall and to be then inserted in the ground around a plant to be watered, so as to define a water-retaining enclosure within it, is characterised in that the wall has projections at intervals on a first side and recesses on the other or second side to engage at least some of said projections, for sealingly securing opposite end portions of the wall together. The device is arranged to be inserted in the ground so that it can be moved from plant to plant as required. The means for securing opposite end portions of the wall together give the required continuous wall with substantially no gap through which significant amounts of water might escape. The enclosure within the wall is open at the top, so that the ground over the roots of the plant can be watered within the enclosure; it is however also open at the bottom within the ground, so that the water is only retained laterally. There is thus no danger of the roots of the plant becoming waterlogged. The wall may be of a suitable tough, flexible plastics material, or of a metal such as aluminium or galvanized sheet steel. The design lends itself particularly to extrusion processes, however, so extrudable plastics materials and aluminium are preferred for this reason. Various embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a plan view of a watering enclosure formed around a plant using a plant watering aid according to the invention; Figure 2 is an elevation as seen from the bottom of Figure 1 ; Figures 3 to 5 show, respectively, three typical cross sections of the wall which constitutes the plant watering aid; Figure 6 is an elevation, on a larger scale, of a section of wall of the kind shown in Figure 3; and Figure 7 shows a modified cross section of a wall for the enclosure. In Figures 1 and 2, a plant 10, such as a shrub, a tree, or a bush, is planted in an area of ground indicated at 11. It will be understood that instead of a single plant, there may be a group of plants in the area 11. For watering purposes, a substantially circular wall 12 is placed around the area 11 to form an enclosure. The wall 12 is constructed using the plant watering aid which consists of a generally flat, elongated wall section made from a flexible plastics material by extrusion. The wall 12 is inserted into the ground around the plant, and preferably has a serrated bottom edge 14 to facilitate this. It is inserted with an upper part 16 of the wall projecting above the ground. The two ends of the wall are overlapped as indicated at 18, and are preferably secured together so as to seal the joint. Thus the wall is erected by bringing it around the plant, overlapping its ends and securing them together where means are provided for doing so; it is then simply pushed into the ground, generally as seen in Figure 2, just far enough to create a sealing effect such that no water can escape from within the enclosure 11 under the lower edge of the wall. In the -wall section shown in Figures 3 and 6, a number of integral hollow projections 20 are formed at regular intervals along the length of the wall 12. Each hollow projection is open at the side 19 opposite the side 21 from which it projects, to provide a recess 22 having an open end 22". These projections 20 are also indicated in Figure 1 , though it is to be understood that Figures 1 and 2 are not confined to the embodiment according to Figure 3. The two overlapped portions at 18 are secured together by pushing the projections 20 (one of which is indicated at 20' in Figure 3) into the open end 22' of the recesses 22 of corresponding projections 20 on the outer wall section in the overlapped part. This is seen at the left hand side of Figure 3, from which it can also be seen that each projection 20 has two side elements 24, joined by a curved outer element 26, and that these elements deform in such a way that the male projection 20' has its side elements 24 squeezed together, the elements 24 of the outer or female projection 20 being squeezed apart so that the combined resilience of the two projections 20 firmly secures both overlapped portions of the wall 12 together. Figure 4 shows an alternative arrangement in which the wall 12 is formed with alternate outward projections 30 and hollow outwardly projecting portions 32, the latter being generally the same as the projections 20 in Figure 3. In this case the two overlapping parts of the wall are secured together by insertion of one or more of the projections 30 into the recess 31 in the projecting portions 32. Although the various projections 20, 30 and 32 are shown in the drawings as projecting from the outer face 21 of the wall, they may equally be directed inwardly instead, so that the face 19 becomes the outer face of the wall. In this respect the choice is of course made by the user when erecting the wall around a plant. As indicated in Figure 6, the projections 20 are vertical and extend the full height of the wall 12; the projections 30 and 32 in Figure 4 also preferably extend vertically over its full height. The wall can then be made by extrusion, being cut into strips of the required width corresponding to the eventual total height of the wall 12. The serrated bottom edge 14 can then be formed by a suitable stamping operation, which is preferably carried out at an angle so as to give a chamfered bottom end (34, Figure 6) to each projection 20. Figure 5 shows a wall 12 with a corrugated cross section, defining projecting portions 40 on the first side 21 which form corresponding recesses 42 in the second side 19. In Figure 7, the wall 12 incorporates integral stiffening ribs 36, which are shown as being generally triangular but which may be of any suitable cross section. The corrugated cross section of Figure 5 and stiffening ribs 36 of Figure 7 may be provided in conjunction with each other and/or with projections and cooperating recesses, for example as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4. It will be appreciated that the projections 30 in Figure 4 also act as stiffening ribs. Substantially all of the water in the enclosure within < the wall 12 will seep down to the roots of the plant, instead of escaping outwardly through the soil and away from the roots. It will be understood that the various projections and recesses need not be vertical, or even straight; nor need they extend over the full height of the wall 12. Thus for example the projections on the first side 21 may be in the form of an array of pips or studs engaging in recesses in the second side 19, and the latter may be formed in similar pips or studs projecting on the first side, or in projecting elements separate from those capable of engaging in such recesses. Again, the projections and/or recesses may extend at a constant angle to the upper and/or lower edges of the wall 12, or at an angle that varies due to the projections and/or recesses being curved.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A plant watering aid comprising a wall of flexible water-impervious material, adapted to be formed into a continuous wall (12) and to be then inserted in the ground around a plant to be watered, so as to define a water-retaining enclosure (11) within it, characterised in that the wall (12) has projections (20; 30, 32; 40) at intervals on a first side (21) and recesses (22; 31; 42) on the other or second side (19) to engage at least some (20'; 30; 40) of said projections, for sealingly securing opposite end portions of the wall together. 2. A plant watering aid according to Claim 1 , characterised in that recesses (22; 31; 42) on the second side (19) are defined in portions (20; 32; 40) of the wall projecting on the first side (21). 3. A plant watering aid according to Claim 2, characterised in that the projections (30) for engaging the recesses (31) are arranged along the wall (12) alternately with hollow projections (32) defining the recesses (31 ) . ' 4". A plant watering aid according to Claim 2, characterised in that each said projecting wall portion (20) also constitutes a said projection, formed as a sinuous flexible portion of the wall (12) having two side elements (24) normally spaced apart but capable of being squeezed together for insertion in the recess (22) of a similar wall portion (20). 5. A plant watering aid according o any one of the preceding Claims, characterised by integral stiffening means (30, 36) .

Inventors: NICKSON JACK, NICKSON, JACK
Applicants: NICKSON JACK, NICKSON, JACK
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A01G1
IPC codes: A01G1