How to Make a Garden Irrigation System
Irrigating a garden is essential to making it a successful, especially since we cannot depend on the rain. There is certainly more than one type of irrigation system, so get to your library and grab a good book or two on the various designs and methods before making any final decisions.
- Select your source of water. Keep in mind that plants prefer rainwater, and rain barrels are an excellent option for harvesting and using it. You can use water from a well, pond or natural spring. City water is not a good idea.
- Plan your system. Figure out how to get the water from the source to the plants. There are so many options here that it is a good idea to do some research. Figure out how to use gravity to your advantage. If not, you'll need a pump.
- Choose your type of irrigation. You can irrigate from overhead with a complex PVC or sprinkler system or at the soil level with soaker or drip hoses. Overhead watering can lead to some plant problems, such as blight.
- Design your system. There are many ways and sources to irrigate that may or may not be viable for you: there is no one-size-fits-all method. It can be as simple as keeping the garden close to your house, setting up a rain barrel for rain water harvesting, running the water to the garden with garden hoses and attaching soaker hoses with hose splitters in succession to supply water to plant rows.
- Take measurements. You'll need enough hose to reach for each part of the plan and the necessary fittings. Do the same if you are using an overhead irrigation system.
- Make a list of the items you need to make your system. If you are using PVC, you'll need primer and cement.
- Consider making or buying a rain barrel or two. It's usually cheaper to make your own and not too difficult.
- Assemble your design and test it for leaks.