less...

Automating your drip irrigation system with a timer saves time and energy that can be used for more important things.

With rain being so scarce during half of the year here in Northern California, installing a watering system for your plants during these dry months becomes a necessity. As the summer rains become less and less reliable, many other parts of the country are starting to experience longer and more severe droughts. Out here we are also noticing drier winters, and many regions are implementing water restrictions as well as increasing the cost of water. With a drip irrigation system you can still water your garden while reducing the pinch of restrictions and increased rates.

In Santa Rosa, a town a bit north of San Francisco, they have implemented a water conservation rebate program that encourages people to conserve water by improving the efficiency of their existing micro irrigation systems. The rebates are being offered to those who are adding a drip irrigation system and they encourage people to plant low water use plants such as the xeriscape plants sold by companies like High Country Gardens. This type of program makes the public more aware of water conservation and the need for a drip irrigation system when planning landscaping, and hopefully these rebate programs will soon be offered all over the county.

Not only will a drip irrigation system help you use water more efficiently, but it will also save you time when enhanced with a timer. For a simple landscape most choose a battery-operated timer, but when working with multiple zones, we suggest an electric timer with electric valves. Having a timer allows you to schedule your watering for the best time of day for your plants without you having to remember to turn on your watering system. Without a timer you must manually start and stop the water flowing through the system, and every once in a while people forget to turn off the faucet. A timer with your drip system ensures that the plants are getting only the amount of water they need, and not wasting the most vital resource on the planet.

Another great time saving benefit of a drip irrigation system is it reduces the weeding you will have to do. When using sprinklers or a garden hose, water will often end up in places away from your plants. This not only wastes water, but also results in weeds sprouting up, detracting from the beauty of your garden. Drip tubing, drip emitters, and drip tape are the perfect drip irrigation products because they slowly emit water only in the area where your plants are located, reducing the number of weeds appearing in your landscape.

At first glance, installing a drip irrigation system may seem like a daunting task, however it is really pretty easy to setup. Most of our customers are of the "do-it-yourself" variety, but we do understand that not everyone wants to design their own drip system. For those who feel uncertain about starting their first drip irrigation project, we offer a free design service to get you up and running. Once you visit our submission page and send us a layout of your landscape, along with some basic information, our design team will review it and put together a drip system plan for you. If a DIY drip irrigation system is what you are looking for, then a great place to start is with our drip irrigation kits. Our Heart Of The Garden Kit is the essential backbone for starting your system, with several add-on kits available to supplement it and provide the irrigation for your plants.

If you apply fertilizer to your yard or plants, you may want to look into adding an automatic fertilizer injector to your drip irrigation watering system. Using the injection method prevents you from having to manually mix the fertilizer and apply it to each plant individually. The water-soluble fertilizer is added at the beginning of your drip system and released through the drip tubing or wherever you have placed drip emitters. The most common fertilizer system that we recommend is the EZ-FLO injector. It is the most economical method of fertilization and can be used for gardens, commercial landscapers, and also small farms. Using EZ-FLO with your drip irrigation system to apply fertilizer is more cost efficient than other fertilizing methods and can also save you energy.

Lawns can now be watered more efficiently than with the conventional lawn sprinkler system using MP Rotators. These water saving sprinklers have an overall savings of about 30% compared to the standard lawn sprinkler system. They come in a wide variety of patterns, arcs, and angles to allow you to tailor to the shape of your lawn. The MP Rotator's versatility makes it the perfect solution for odd shaped areas or heavy soil conditions that would create run-off with normal pop-up sprinklers. The low flow rate that these sprinklers operate at makes it easy for them to be used in conjunction with your existing drip irrigation system.

The friendly and knowledgeable staff here at Dripworks is always ready to answer your drip irrigation questions. Not only do we have a great tech support crew to answer your phone call, but you can also email any questions you have to us at tech@dripworksusa.com .

less...