Last summer I spent many mornings watering my garden, plants, and lawn with a garden hose. On the hottest, driest days I was up at 6 AM, walking around in a daze getting everything soaked. During one record-breaking heatwave, we were out of town on vacation and when I returned I found a slightly dried out lawn and plants, but my vegetables were toast. The tomatoes took it hardest, looking close to dead after just a few days of drought.
This year when we planted large stands of tomatoes, squash, and peas, I vowed to make sure this didn't happen again. I did some research on drip irrigation systems and was impressed to find the cost and features of this technology has really come along. You don't need to know much about hardware or plumbing, nor do you have to dig any trenches. While older systems were prone to clogging these new systems are really flexible, pretty much leak-proof, and go together like a box of legos.
Here's a flickset of my first drip line
About the most complicated part is getting the start of the system right. It starts with a new faucet head that lets you keep the system connected while allowing attachments on another line. Next, a battery operated timer promises to work for an entire season off a single 9-volt battery. The backflow preventer simply keeps water in your line from ever going back into your house system. The filter keeps large bits from clogging your drip system while the pressure reducer makes sure no matter how high you turn the water on, there will only be a 25 lb/sq/in pressure in the hose, and finally, there is a piece to step down from the standard garden hose and plumbing sizes down to the 1/2 poly tubing that makes up the backbone of the system.
The overall system is fairly simple, built off the parts described along with a 1/2 and 1/4 inch tubing system and various dripper, bubbler, and sprinkler heads. A basic system that will cover a front yard or backyard garden will typically run about $100 and all parts are available at most major home and garden centers.
After setting up the head, you simply lay 1/2 tubing down and stake it where you'll want to irrigate. Any place where you'd like to add some water output, you simply puncture the tubing with a specially designed tool, leaving a clean hole. Like a set of legos, the 1/4 inch tubing and connectors simply pop right into the holes, creating a leak-proof seal. At the end of the 1/4 tubing you add a final watering part that is appropriate for your needs. In this case of my garden beds, I needed slow, long watering from low-flow drip heads. On my front yard system I water for shorter periods of time, but use bubblers (small sprinkler heads that cover small several inch areas) and sprinklers (small sprinklers like you'd find in a lawn, adjustable to cover up to several square feet). At the end of the line you simply add a cap.
The end result is that I don't have to worry too much day-to-day about my vegetables like I did last year. A basic system goes together in just an hour or two, and it's easy to expand upon. Since I built my first system a few weeks ago for the vegetable beds, I've expanded it to cover the entire front and backyard, in a three-zone system that waters ornamental plants on a separate schedule from the edible plants. My next project is to test out the larger sprinkler heads for lawn coverage. A friend recently set up a similar system, and let me know he was also impressed with the ease of setup, low cost, and flexible system.
If you have a Lowe's or Home Depot nearby, check out their drip irrigation section for free guides. The system I used came with a friendly introduction to planning and installing drip systems. They also explain what each type of drip head can do.
If you're interested in these sorts of systems, I'd suggest starting small. Experiment with a few bubblers and drippers on say, a patio or small stand of shrubs. Once you've grown accustomed to how things go together, you can expand to cover your entire garden. — Matt Haughey