Drip irrigation is the best type of garden irrigation for water saving and helping your plants grow.
Drip irrigation comes in a number of types, the most common type is a continuous pipe with built in dripper units fixed at 300mm spacing. These dripper units are inside the pipe with a small hole as the outlet. The pipe is laid on the garden surface in a random grid fashion. This covers the whole garden area. The water drips through the holes and soaks the entire garden area.
The watering of gardens using drip irrigation is done over a longer time than spray irrigation. This ensures there is no water run off. This means the water penetrates deep into the soil.
Drip irrigation works best when covered with mulch. The mulch ensures there is little or no evaporation of the water supplied.
Drip irrigation in this form can also be installed in a grid fashion under new grass. Using this type of installation, the grass is watered from below the roots. This means the grass takes up most of the water so there is very little water lost through evaporation.
Other types of Drip Irrigation
The other types of drip irrigation are dripper heads which can be installed into existing irrigation pipe or dripper heads set on stakes as you can see in the images below. These types of dripper heads are for pots or small garden beds where the water drips close to the plants you want to water.
The photo below is of a new style dripper used for pots and small garden beds. These are called low volume drippers. These drippers are set to deliver 2, 4 or 8 litres per hour. This is only a small amount of water and makes sure that very little water is wasted. These drippers are perfect for pots.
Older style drippers
The drippers in the photo below are older style drippers and are adjustable. They can be used as a small spray head or as a dripper. By loosening the dripper head they let out more water and by tightening the head they let out less water. They can be used as a spray, a dripper or be turned off completely.
There are many more variations on drip irrigation. All types do basically the same job. Some types are better suited to some situations than others. If you need advice or a quote on the correct drip irrigation system for your garden please contact us at Colin Green’s Landscaping on 04169613903.