Automatic watering system

An automatic tree-watering system for hydrating a cut tree from a tree-receiving reservoir in which standing water can be received, the watering system comprising:

• a tank defining a supply-water reservoir;
• gift package structure providing the tank with the appearance of a gift package;
• a pump having a water inlet in communication with the supply-water reservoir of the tank and a water outlet;
• a first water-level sensor associated with the tank operative to detect that water in the supply-water reservoir is above a minimum water level;
• a water-delivery conduit having a first end in communication with the pump water outlet and a second end for communication with the tree-receiving reservoir;
• a second water-level sensor for association with the tree-receiving reservoir operative to detect that water in the tree-receiving reservoir is below a maximum water level, the second water-level sensor being a conductive sensor having a pair of conductive probes with one probe being longer than the other and the shorter probe defining the location of the maximum water level, wherein water contact with both the shorter and longer probes indicates to a controller that the tree-receiving reservoir is full of water while water contact with the longer probe but not the shorter probe indicates to the controller that the tree-receiving reservoir requires additional water;
• and
• the controller is operatively connected to the first and second water-level sensors and pump which enables pump operation when the first water-level sensor detects that water in the supply-water reservoir of the tank is above the minimum water level and, when the pump is enabled, the controller immediately starts and continuously runs the pump when standing water in the tree-receiving reservoir falls below the shorter probe defining the maximum water level and stops the pump when standing water in the tree-receiving reservoir has risen into contact with the shorter probe at the maximum water level, to thereby supply standing water to the tree-receiving reservoir for the cut tree hydration while limiting water level fluctuation and also preventing overflow of the tree-receiving reservoir.