Drip Irrigation System

If you know anything about lawn sprinkler systems and irrigation then surely you have heard about drip irrigation. Drip irrigation is the process of watering plants and shrubs directly at the root base with a very slow application of water.

Drip irrigation uses up to 300X less than conventional spray heads. Drip irrigation is measured in gallons per hour (gph) instead of gallons per minute (gpm) like the standard rotors and spray heads used in landscape irrigation.

Drip irrigation is beneficial in many ways other than just the conservation of water. Applying water to your plants using drip cuts out the unnecessary watering of other areas in your landscape beds and gardens which usually promotes weed growth. If you have well water that stains your driveway and sidewalk, drip irrigation can greatly reduce this because the water does not spray all over the place.

There are a few bad points about drip. If you are on well water, the emitters then to clog up and have to be cleaned/flushed out. You can install a drip filter with a fine mesh screen directly after the valve to reduce debris in the drip line.

Drip irrigation is not for large lawn areas. These areas are best watered with rotors or spray heads. There are different kind of drip configurations for different situations. I suggest looking at Rainbird's website to see what they have. http://www.rainbird.com/drip/index.htm

If improperly designed drip irrigation can be frustrating. For example, if you tie in drip with a spray zone, you will end up either having flooding from running the system too long to get the proper amount of water out of the drip emitters, or you will underwater the plants on the drip because you don't want to over-water the area that the spray heads are watering.

Overall, I do like drip irrigation when used properly and in the right situation. If you are on a city water supply I would highly recommend drip for shrub beds and certain flower beds. If you have your own well then I would think twice about it. Remember to have your drip on a separate zone so that you can water for the correct amount of time without worrying about overwatering or underwatering another area.

Too Dry, We Need Water!

I'm back after my long break off from blogging. I'm not going to make any promises that I'll be doing this everyday, but I do plan on frequently updating my blog like in the past.

So for the past few years It's been business as usually with the lawn sprinkler business. Hurricane Ivan in September of 2004 gave us a big spike in business and opened up new business relationships which have continued to pay off well into 2006.

Instead of hurricanes and excessive rains, we have been facing the opposite problem here in Northwest Florida this year. We have usually accumulated about 27" of rainfall at this point in the year, but we've only got a little over 13"! It's either too much rain or not enough, we just can't win!

With the lack of rainfall the need for irrigation has increased. People who don't have an automatic lawn sprinkler system or the time to manually water their landscape are watching their lawns turn brown as their plants wilt and die. This is a major stress on people who take their yards seriously.

Many people have given up on the idea of a green yard because they just can't seem to maintain one. This does not have to be. A properly designed lawn irrigation system will help keep your grass green with a lot less effort and attention than manual watering. The process of designing and building a system is not as hard as some people think. With a willingness to learn and follow instructions, almost anyone can do it.

Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, putting in an irrigation system will ease with the maintenance of your landscape, add to the curb appeal of your house, and increase your property value. Don't let the drought conditions kill your yard. Step into the 21st century with an automatic lawn sprinkler system.