Drip Irrigation for Your Backyard Garden

Last year it became obvious that not only could I not keep up with the watering in our hot, humid climate, but it was not healthy for the plants.

I have 3 rain barrels and due to living in a small town with public water, at the time this seemed like a great solution. I am passionate about organic gardening so what could be more organic than rainwater, or so I thought.

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And irrigation was not an option if I wanted to keep chlorine and other chemicals in public water, out of my garden.

Two things happened in the last year to make this the time to install an irrigation system.

First, I found a filter for my hose bibb to remove chlorine chloramines, VOCs, pesticides, and herbicides. Boogie-Blue Plus+ is available on Amazon.

This is a game changer for organic growers on public water.

Secondly, during one of my Master Gardening classes, my rain barrel bubble was burst! I did not know that most asphalt roofing shingles are treated with fungicides and contain carcinogens!! This water filled my rain barrels and was then put on my vegetables.

The first year I lived here, my garden was surprisingly healthy and fruitful.

The second year, after installing and using our rain barrels for all my watering needs, I noticed a significant difference. The plants did not look as healthy, and the harvest was not as robust as the year before. I did not associate this with rain barrels, so I continued to use them.

The next year (last year) was even worse. Plants were spindly, growth stunted, and produce was almost non-existent.

After learning about the fungicide roof treatments, I wanted to find out if the symptoms I was finding in my garden matched the research that was being gathered. I was shocked. The same symptoms were universal. They noted that weak plants and poor yield were to be expected. For large scale farmers, this could mean a loss in yield, quality, and profit, according to Wikipedia.

So, I began looking at videos from fellow bloggers to find the easiest way to install irrigation, and finally decided to follow Deanna from Homestead and Chill. Her terrific video showing how to install dripline irrigation is simple and easy to follow and gave us the confidence to move forward. Plus, she provides a list of items needed and where to find them. Awesome resource for this project.

Our kitchen garden irrigation project was first and went without a flaw. Six beds, fully self-sufficient for their normal watering needs. I do supplement every week to 10 days for feedings and hand watering seeds between scheduled irrigation watering, as needed.

But…what about the rest of my garden. I do not have a typical rectangular garden. My backyard is filled with roses, trees, flowering perennials, and vegetables. Pathways meander through the garden. So, how do you install a system that is not symmetrical??

So, after much thought, my husband, Dudley, laid out the 1/2″ lines around the perimeter of our lot and another down the middle. Wherever there was a path, he buried the line and protected it with PVC piping, but otherwise it is above ground and running through or around the beds. Then we installed the 1/4” driplines with emitters every 6”. Once all plants have been planted, these lines will be covered by mulch.

As you can see, all lines start from the hose bibb at the back of the house.

Our irrigation is divided into 3 zones. Through the Orbit programmable 3 Outlet Hose Watering Timer,  we are able to set the timer to the time each zone is watered, for how long and how often to repeat.

We found that with our low water pressure, 1/4″ lines could not zigzag throughout the beds for long distances. Short lines coming from the 1/2“ supply lines worked much better for us.

The key is to get the right amount of water to make sure that the plants are watered, but not soaked, and to let them dry out slightly in between watering. For this, I turned back to Deanna at Homestead and Chill. She explains in detail, in her above blog post, how to determine this depending on your circumstances.

For me, I decided to start with 45 minutes every 2 days in my kitchen garden. Due to the location of this garden, it can be 10 to 30 degrees hotter than the rest of the yard. And, because the raised beds are subjected to the heat, causing the soil to dry out on the top, but also from the sides they dry out sooner than other beds.

In the rest of the yard, the gardens get watered 45 minutes every 3 days.

It is important to monitor this every day to determine if adjustments need to be made. Keep in mind that further adjustments may be needed depending on rainfall and heat during the summer. So, while you are doing your morning walk through your garden, checking for produce, pests deadheading, or appreciating the beauty, just look to see if there are dry spots or puddles.

The question that I pondered was whether it is best to put in the driplines first and plant later or to plant so that I know where to put the lines, especially in the willy-nilly, anything goes part of my yard. Hands down, put in the lines first and then you know where the emitters are so that you can plant near them. You can always move the lines around if necessary to fine tune your beds.

I am extremely happy with the results. My plants look healthier, and I have extra time every morning to do other things, like deadheading which has been at the bottom of my must do list the last 2 years! And I could not believe how reasonable the pricing was. If my time is worth anything, the irrigation cost is a real bargain!

I hope that this has been helpful. If you are still not sure if you can put in a drip irrigation system, check out Deanna’s video. I am sure you will agree that it is not as hard as you think.

Happy Gardening!