Landscape Design : Use Drip Irrigation Systems

Using typical watering methods, moisture is lost through run off, evaporation, blown away by the wind, and wasted on non-planted areas. The drip irrigation method is generally greater than 90% efficient at letting plants use all the water applied, but sprinklers are just 70% efficient.

It's a good idea to install a drip irrigation system for your home. Then you don't need to worry with getting the right quantity of water placed at the right moment, nor do you have to move sprinklers everywhere.

An irrigation system is not cheap at first, however it will pay for itself within a few years and most do it yourselfers can install it easily.

What Is Drip Irrigation?

Drip irrigation actually refers to a combination of several types of low-pressure, low-volume water delivery methods. The precise term for these systems is "microirrigation". Each microirrigation method is noted by a unique type of emitter (the element that releases the water).

Drip irrigation is the precise and gradual application of low pressure water directly to the plant's roots using emitters. A drip irrigation system is a group of joined flexible plastic tubing. The tubes have holes bored at specific intervals to match the placement of your plants. The whole system is either buried or placed atop the soil next to the plants.

Advantages

In keeping the plant's roots moist (but not to the point of saturation) you actually use less water than with conventional watering techniques. Maintaining an ideal moisture level in the soil at all times results in:

-deep watering
-more efficient watering
-water conservation
-almost no evaporation loss
-water only where plants are
-no wind to carry the water away
-deeper roots
-healthier roots (due to decreasing disease problems associated with high levels of moisture on plants)
-plants are hardier: more resistant to pests, drought, and disease
-greater foliage
-greater crop yields
-no uv degradation of plastic and other materials exposed to sunlight
-decreases water, fertilizer, and labor if properly managed.

Where To Place

Drip irrigation systems are usually installed around flowers, shrubs, and even trees. This targeting guarantees watering to be more effective and efficient. It helps ensure that each of the landscape's individual elements are appropriately watered.

A drip irrigation system can be easily hidden by a layer of mulch, so that even an above ground system does not diminish the sight of your land.

How To Set Up

Installing drip irrigation is easy using kits obtainable at most home improvement stores. Kits contain instructions that clearly explain all the procedure. The few tools needed are probably already in your shop. The installation takes 1 day or less.

You can make maintenance much easier by adding a timer to your system. The timers can be obtained where you get your kit and are simple to install as well. Timers insure that your plants get watered at the appropriate time without you needing to remember to do so. They help your plants get precisely the right amount of water at the right time.

Your drip irrigation system should be used with 'irrigation zones' in your landscape. Plants with similar water needs should be planted together, so that they can be more efficiently watered. This helps you to not overwater some plants just because others nearby need additional water.

It's easy to change the configuration of a drip system. So, a system will evolve as your needs change.

All in all, drip irrigation systems are economical as well as a good choice to keep your plants healthy and hardy. They can help to improve your garden ... the easy way.