The question seems to be asked a lot lately, will drip irrigation work for my garden application? Hopefully we can help answer this question.

First, the definition of drip irrigation from Wikipedia:
Drip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or micro irrigation, is an irrigation method, which saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters.

Now for several reasons for using a drip irrigation system.
Water conservation is one of the concerns of everyone and a good reason for using a drip irrigation system. Installing a drip system will save you both water and money on your water bills. It also helps reduce weed growth and stops you from watering things you wish not to water. (Neighbors yard, sidewalks, and cars).

Another benefit for using a drip irrigation kits is the ease of use. Most drip kits may look hard to install but purchasing the correct kit can make the installation easy. A good drip kit should have everything you need in one convenient package, which should include, drip tape with emitters, filter system, pressure regulator, easy to use tees, connectors and elbows and of course good instructions. Also look for drip irrigation kits that offer an instructional video. With this type of drip kit the only tool you should need is a pair of scissors.

The size and shape of your vegetable and flower gardens are not a real issue. Take a little time and plan your layout for your garden or landscape. You will need to measure the distance of your drip runs and the length of your main distribution waterline. You will also need enough garden hose to reach your main distribution line. Then remove all your drip kit parts from the box and you are ready to go.

Something you may want to consider is to add a watering timers to your garden hose. Again there are a lot of models and types available, but ease of use is what you are looking for in a watering timers. Look for a simple battery operated water timer unit with features for setting start times, stop times, and run times. This way you can setup the unit up once and the watering is done automatically and you will not be over watering and wasting money.

Remember to water early in the day to help reduce evaporation, which means you will use less water, again saving you money. It is not good to irrigate in the evening because moisture on the plant and leaves can create issues with plant decease.

Hopefully these tips and ideas will help you better understand drip irrigation and the application of its use. It may be the middle of July, but installing a system now can save your vegetables and flowers from the normal hot dry August weather. Plus you can increase your garden vegetable crop and keep your flower garden looking great all summer long.