Drip irrigation
Image by photofarmer via Flickr

Drip irrigation is an efficient irrigation method that can help your garden plants nourish by means of offering water drips at the root levels. These precise amounts of water drops are beneficial in maintaining moisture level in the soil which becomes conducive for the growth of the plants. It is easy to use drip irrigation system and very simple to install as well. Learn some necessary installation tips and can help you do it yourself.

Drip irrigation is made up of a number of components just as tubing, emitters, valves, timers, filter, pressure regulator, backflow preventer etc. These irrigation supplies can be purchased from garden supply stores.

Installation Tips:

After you get hold of required irrigation components, plan out your system design according to your garden requirement. Here are some of the tips that will help you install your own system easily:

1. Preparing Your Supply Line

You can lay out the pipe between your garden plants. You can run a single line throughout the entire landscape. You can also make the supply line short by installing a tee to split it for your convenience.

2. Installing the Emitters

Proper placement of the emitters is important. Put them at the base of your plant because all the roots of newly planted trees are in the root ball. For the established old plants, you can place the emitters throughout the root zone of the plants so that water can run to and beyond your drip-line.

A punch can be used for making a hole to push the emitter into the supply line. Use feeder lines to place emitters at the base of the plants. You can insert the connection barb into the hole and after that you can attach the feeder line to the barb.

3. Flushing Your System

During installation, soil and debris get into the line that may cause for clogging up your emitters. And therefore, it is important to flush your system before committing to your watering task. You can do it by leaving the ends of the tubing open and allowing water run for several minutes.

4. Closing the Supply Line

You can close your supply line by bending over the end and crimping the pipe. Use duct tape to tape the end in place.

5. Adjusting Your Emitters

You need to run your system in order to check whether your emitters are working or flowing properly at the base of your plants. If you’ve installed mini-prays, you can adjust the flow of your emitters. It is essential to check the emitters or feeder tube for the reason that they can blow out if they are not perfectly snapped into place.

6. Burry Your Supply Line

Burying the supply line is an easy task. You can wrap your tubing with mulch so that it can hide from the sight. Suppose your line stretches across the turf, then it is good to use a spade to open up a wedge so that you’ll get the line go below the surface.

7. System Maintenance

In order to get the maximum out put from your drip irrigation system installed by you, you need to maintain it regularly. You should check your system once in a month to discover leaks and plugged emitters. Also you need to check the filter and clean it for better results.

These are the essential tips for your consideration for installing a drip irrigation system. It is not only trouble-free to install but also cost-effective that helps sustain the moisture level, creates conducive atmosphere for the growth of plants and more importantly saves water! Now, you have to decide which one will be useful for your irrigation task – sprinkler systems or drip irrigation?

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