Drip Irrigation for Beginners

Drip irrigation is the most efficient way to irrigate your raised garden beds, orchard, landscape, roses, shrubs, row crops, or even containers on a deck or patio. Setting a system up and putting it on a timer eliminates hours of hand watering and weeding as all the water goes directly to the desired plant’s roots. In the end, you’ll feel secure knowing that your plants will be watered by a quality drip system that you can easily set up on your own.

Resources

Sketch out your vision. Put your basic irrigation plan on paper with some key measurements of the areas to be watered. Use the following resources at www.dripworks.com.

Drip Planning Guide Careful planning and quality products are key to a successful drip irrigation setup. This guide provides you with all the information you’ll need in a very well written and laid out format. This guide will provide the information required to design and install a properly working drip irrigation system.

Gallery of Plans This easy to understand online resource shows you the exact sequence and parts necessary to set up a drip system for your yard, garden, or farm. It takes the guesswork out of placing an order and can be customized to fit most situations.

The Garden Planner Provides you with the data needed to plan the perfect garden. Experiment with different garden layouts and get information on frost dates that will show you the best planting times for your area and crops.

Online Calculators These calculators take the guesswork out of planning your drip system or planning to install a pond liner. Included are:

• Pond Liner estimator
• Fertilizer estimator
• Drip Tape estimator
• Flow estimator

How-to Videos Over 150 videos will help show you how to set up a drip system, how to set up our kits, and how to measure and install a pond liner. See drippers (emitters), and sprayers in action, guides to programming a timer, and customer garden videos. All are a must see!

Getting Started

If you’re new to drip irrigation and are wondering how to get started, we highly recommend getting a complete starter kit. Most kits are available in small, medium, and large versions. Everything you need is included, quickly install a drip system and automate it with a battery timer.

Garden Bed Kits As the name implies, the kit is perfect for framed or unframed garden beds. These kits use 1/4″ Soaker Dripline which is one of the most versatile drip products you’ll ever use. This product is a very flexible 1/4″ diameter tubing that can be configured to accommodate a wide variety of situations. It can operate under very low water pressure. This product is also great for containers, small bushes, or small border gardens.

Drip Tape Kits for Row Crops For long rows and large raised beds, drip tape, is a favorite for gardeners and farmers. This 15-mil drip tape with emitters spaced every 8″ will water rows up to 380’in length. If you have row crops, these kits are what you need.

Rose and Shrub Kit This kit uses pressure compensating Shrubbler emitters. At 30 PSI each emitter will evenly provide 8 gallons per hour via eight small streams of water in a 12″ diameter pattern to all points within your drip system. These emitters are easy to install and virtually maintenance free.

Individual Plant Kit Whether you’re looking to water a group of containers or individual landscape plantings, this kit will meet your needs. Using a variety of 1 GPH (gallon per hour), 2 GPH, and 4 GPH Take-Apart-Emitters.

Greenhouse Misting Kit Designed to cover two 4′ x 10′ tables, this kit is ideal for seed propagation, foliage watering, and cooling. Each of the ten misters includes and anti-drip device to prevent dripping after the water is turned off. Like our other kits, this one has everything to get your greenhouse going. This kit is easily expandable, use for cooling patios, decks, or other outside areas of your house.

Battery Operated Timer An efficient drip system needs a timer. It will turn your system on and off at designated times, so plants get the steady, consistent watering they need for optimum health and production. You’ll never forget to turn your system on or off.

A typical yard has a garden faucet attached to the outside wall of the house or on a pipe stand. As you can see from the illustration shown below the first thing you should connect (after a timer) is a filter. Filters protect your system from sediment and other particles large enough to affect the performance of your drip system. The filter will free you from having to fear that some drippers or sprayers may get clogged. Select the filter according to the maximum flow of your faucet.

Drip irrigation is an affordable and simple way to grow a garden, enjoy your garden again by setting up an automated system.