What Type of Irrigation Should I Use?
What Type of Irrigation Should I Use?
The question seems simple enough yet the answer is a bit more complicated than some would like it to be. The intent of this blog it to not necessarily answer the pressing question of should one use sprays or drip to irrigate a garden bed but why is there not a simple answer to this seemingly simple question.
This raised garden bed has two types of drip irrigation installed and the irrigation application is adjusted based on what is being grown and the seasonal needs of the garden.
As an irrigation designer, I have learned that my excitement about answering the question is not always a shared experience. I suppose one usually expects an answer to their question rather than four or five different questions in rapid response, especially questions about things that haven’t even been decided yet.
“What type of irrigation should I use in my new raised garden beds?”
This irrigation point of connection is off shared irrigation rights pumped from a neighboring property. Irrigation design is critical for sizing appropriately but irrigation scheduling is also important to accommodate the shared water source and other’s scheduling needs.
“Do you already have irrigation on site? What is your water source? What is your available water pressure? Do you know how many gallon per minute you have? What are you going to grow? Seeds or starts? How hands-on do you want to be? What kind of soil do you have? Is the site sloped? Are the beds in full sun or in the shade?”
Okay, that was more the five questions and I still have a few more. Why ask all those questions? Because if you already had irrigation on site, getting irrigation to the new beds might be as easy as retro-fitting an existing zone with pressure compensation and filtration for drip. Depending on your water source, you might need pressure reducers or an inline pump, you might need filtration for algae and sediment, or you might not need any of that. Available water pressure can be limiting if too low and needs to be regulated if too high. It is important to know how much water is available for irrigation because if you only have 10 gallons per minute and the system is designed to use 20 gallons per minute the sprinklers will not perform as desired. Depending on what you’re growing, you’ll want to irrigate accordingly. Germinating seed is difficult with drip tape or emitterline and much easier with sprays. Some plants don’t like water on their foliage and irrigation is more efficient when applied at the soil surface with drip irrigation. If you want to go on vacation and monitor your irrigation from your phone while away, that is an option and requires a different set up compared to running a hose off of a faucet or hydrant. Soil intake rate and slope need to be considered when applying water to avoid wasteful runoff and erosion. Sun exposure affects irrigation programming and full sun often requires tighter emitter spacing than shadier areas on the same property.
This specialized gauge can measure pressure and flow to get a quick idea of what irrigation design parameters are on site to work with.
Each site is different because of differing water sources, soils, plant materials, and end-users and should be looked at as such. Some differences might be slight and not great enough to affect performance while some may be critical to the success of the system and must be addressed in order to operate functionally. So, when you ask your neighbor about what kind of irrigation they use to grow their garden, consider what you have in common (or what is different) to get a better idea if what works for their site can work at your place. Water Whys Irrigation provides on site consultations to assess the irrigation possibilities for your project. If you are interested in a consultation, contact Water Whys Irrigation, there is a button at the bottom of this page. Mention this blog for a special discount on your irrigation consultation service.