PVC drip system |
Have you ever wondered
if there was a better way to water your plants and use less water, especially during the hot days of summer? Maybe you just want to leave town in the summer and not return to your basket of petunias looking like a basket wilted lettuce. A drip irrigation system might be the solution to your
problems.
As a user of drip
irrigation for over 20 years, I can attest to the benefits. By putting water
directly next to the plant, you water only the plant and not the soil around
it. This means fewer weed seeds can germinate, which means fewer weeds! A drip system can
also save you time, while giving you better results in the garden. Studies in
drip irrigation conducted by the University of Utah found that participants
experienced up to 90% time savings in watering and weeding the gardens.
Throughout the growing season, the study participants observed that the plants
were healthier and produced at a higher level.
Drip lines in flower baskets |
A watering system
set up on timers eliminates the possibility of your gardens not getting watered
while you’re gone. At our house for example, if the temperatures are hot, we
know can leave our home for a few days and come home to healthy plants.
Any time is a good time
to invest in a drip system. However, springtime is an ideal time to consider
designing a drip irrigation system because you can plan your vegetable and
flower gardens around the water system.
While it may sound
complicated, it is easy to design and install. There is a lot of information
available on drip systems, so do your research. I use a PVC pipe system for the
vegetable garden and flexible tubing for our flower gardens.