There are several options available for homeowners that want to avoid the tedious chore of watering flower beds and vegetable gardens by hand.  Among the more popular and affordable are overhead, drip and soaker systems.

Components may be purchased locally from hardware stores, home improvement centers or lawn and garden stores. Mail order firms such as Dripco Irrigation  (1-800-332-1570), Dripworks (1-800-522-3747), A. M Leonard (1-800-543-8955), and MacKenzie Nursery Supply (1-800-777-5030) offer extensive selections of home and commercial irrigation supplies. Limited selections for homeowners can be found in catalogues from Lee Valley (1-800-871-8158), Walt Nick’s Garden Talk, (978) 887-3388. Other suppliers may be found from a search of the World Wide Web.  Some vendors offer easy to assemble kits while others offer individual components. While the kits are easier to plan and assemble they offer less flexibility and usually higher in cost since frequently some parts may not be needed.
  
OVERHEAD IRRIGATION

Overhead systems are usually the least expensive and simple to install, but may not be the best choice since overhead irrigation wastes water and may spread disease. A simple system uses a sprinkler head elevated on a pipe or post connected to your garden hose.An inexpensive plastic sprinkler can be purchased locally for about $12. More elaborate adjustable heads range in price from a few dollars to as much as $75.  One sprinkler will irrigate a circle 30’ to 45’ in diameter, and multiple heads can be hooked in tandem to handle larger areas.  For more permanent installations the supply hose can be buried between heads and from the supply faucet.Quick connect fitting makes attachment quick and easy. Unfortunately, this system operates only in a circle and will waste water when installed in a long narrow bed.
 Some do-it-yourself overhead systems use mini spray heads which can be designed to fit irregular beds but these are more expensive, more difficult to design and install and in this writers experience often do not give even coverage.

SOAKER HOSE SYSTEMS
 
Soaker hose is usually made from recycled automobile tires.  The construction allows water to seep from the many pores in the tubing.  The advantages of this system are: 
 

1. use less water, 
2. keeps water off the plants to reduce disease and 
3. easy to install.

Common sizes are 1/4th, ½ and 3/4th inch diameter.  The ¾” size is commonly available in 50’ lengths with hose end fitting already attached.  The 1/4th and ½” size is ordered in bulk rolls from vendors mentioned above. Installation is easiest with the standard 50” rolls purchased locally.  Since the fittings are already installed all you do is roll it out in the garden or beds hook it your garden hose and turn on the faucet.  This system is also portable so it can be moved from bed to bed as needed.  Of course that is also a disadvantage since there is work involved in moving it from place to place (a wet muddy soaker hose is no joy to move.) If you are like me, moving a wet muddy hose from place to place is not my first choice, so I opt for a semi-permanent installation of ½” hose, designed and installed in my larger flower beds.  My system has been on the ground for 3 years and I expect at least 3 more years before replacement is needed. Installation is fairly simple. A variety of pressure fit connectors (Y’s, T’s, shut off valves and male and female connectors) are available to accommodate individual requirements. You build as you go, looping the soaker hose in and about the plants on 18” centers or completely around individual plants or shrubs.  Using a solid plastic pipe “header line”, with inexpensive shut-off valves here and there you could literally do your entire garden with one line. When you finish, you can hide the lines by covering with mulch.  This will also add years the life of the system by protecting it from sunlight. Protect the system from freeze damage by uncoupling the fittings, and blow out the water with old-fashioned lung power.  Then reconnect the fittings to keep out insects and dirt.

DRIP SYSTEMS

There are many variations of drip irrigation on the market.  Some use header lines feeding spaghetti like maze of micro tubing with an emitter at the end to measure the amount of water dispensed.  This system is best for containers and individual plants, shrubs and trees.
Another drip system uses a flat plastic tube (called “T Tape) with micro holes spaced at 8 or 12-inch intervals. This system works best on gardens where the rows are straight and evenly spaced.  A series of T Tapes spaced over the rows of garden crops gives uniform coverage with out wasting water or wetting the foliage.  The T Tapes are supplied with water though a ½” mainline header pipe. This system also snaps together with pressure fittings and or pressure fit hose barbs.  An in line filter is required to filter out dirt and rust, and a pressure regulator to maintain the uniform pressure required.  This system can be designed to operate automatically or on demand with quick connect hose fittings.

Advantages: 
 

1. Same as Soaker hose installations, plus more uniform distribution of water than soaker or overhead, in this writer’s opinion.

The Disadvantage:  
 

1. “T Tape” tubing is rigid and will not bend around corners.
2. Rows must be fairly straight.  For the typical vegetable garden installation the entire system is taken up in the fall and re-installed in the spring after crops are planted.

 The choice is yours.  Spend a few dollars now for a labor saving installation or spend tedious hours hand watering and risk increases in disease and irrigation expense.