Everything you need to know to design a drip irrigation system, for a lush, beautiful, water efficient lawn and garden.

More and more conservation-minded homeowners are turning to drip irrigation to keep their lawn and garden looking green and beautiful without wasting precious water resources. The principle behind a drip irrigation system is simple; irrigation is delivered slowly and steadily directly to the roots of your lawn and plants via a hose which is literally full of tiny holes. This way you don’t lose water to evaporation or runoff, and your irrigation system will never waste water by spraying it onto the driveway or the patio, as can often happen with a conventional sprinkler system.

Best of all, the water is delivered directly to the roots of your plants, where it can be absorbed most effectively. With a little know-how and the right equipment, you can custom design a drip irrigation system to suit the layout of your garden and the plant species you have, and install it all yourself. Just follow the links from this site for more information and advice on designing a drip irrigation system, and how to order all the equipment, parts and accessories you need.

Drip irrigation design basics.

If you plan to design a whole new garden from scratch, you have the perfect opportunity to install your drip irrigation system underground. If you don’t want to dig up your garden, laying the drip irrigation hoses over garden beds and around large plants will work almost as well.

The optimum drip irrigation system design will depend on the layout of your individual garden and the plants you have, but the basic components of any system will include a special porous drip irrigation hose which you simply attach to the garden faucet, a device to regulate the pressure, and a timer. If your local authorities require it, you will also need to install a backflow preventer.

For more information on irrigation systems, please read this article on drip irrigation supplies.