Understanding a Rain Water Irrigation System for Gardens

One of the most difficult parts of owning a garden is not the initial set up process, but rather keeping it alive.

Making sure that your garden is tended properly through the weeding and watering process can be difficult, especially if you live in an area where rain does not fall in abundance.

Some companies charge you thousands of dollars to set up an irrigation system, but a rain water irrigation system for gardens can be a weekend project that you set up and implement without much trouble.

An Abundance of Benefits

Creating your own irrigation system is beneficial not only because it is less expensive, but also for a number of other reasons.

To begin with, when you harvest the rain for your plants, you are getting the best possible water you can. Rain water doesn’t have the toxins that municipal water supplies often do, so it’s naturally a better solution to your watering needs.
When you feed your garden the healthiest water there is, you will also reap the benefits by receiving larger and healthier plants.
When you use municipal water, you’re subject to watering regulations. During a dry year, a water ban may prevent you from giving your plants the amount of water they need to survive.
A water system that uses the rain will allow you to get more than enough water to your plants no matter what bans your local municipality has in place.

The Basics

You only need a few basic things to create your own rain water system. You need a way to collect and distribute the rain, a way to make the rain run into a specific area, and the knowledge of how much rain you need for all of the plants you are trying to feed. For instance, the closer your plants are together, the less water you will need, as they will be able to share the water a bit better. Plants that have to be spaced further apart, however, will need more water.

The next time it rains, take a look at what happens around your home and garden area. In most places, there are always some spots on the ground where the water pools and other places where the water runs off. This is a simple way to circumvent the water so that it goes into the garden every time it rains. Next, try to figure out what area is best to catch the water. The easiest place should be smooth, like concrete or metal. Many gardeners use a roof of some sort.

An ideal rain water irrigation system for gardens will have a way for the rain to immediately be distributed amongst the plants and a way to hold onto the rain for a later date. For instance, you can have the rain go through a gutter and a downspout in one area and in another area, have it collect in a rain barrel. You can then choose to connect a hose to the barrel and turn it on when you need water or use a watering can and give the plants individual attention.

A rain water irrigation system is an easy and inexpensive way to feed your precious garden plants, and with some planning, you can have your project done in a short weekend.

For more information on watering your garden, please read these articles:

Keep your garden growing in a drought

How to manager harvesting rain water