Good to the Last Drip

my neighbor's peony

 Greetings!
It's been a long time comin',
but the drip irrigation is finally in!

After tweaking our components a couple of times,
we think we at last have a working system.
This is a pictorial review of what we did.
The star of the show is the poly tubing.
We chose 1/2" poly found at Lowe's 
and proudly manufactured by Mister Landscaper,
right here in the USA.

When you choose your poly, 
it's important to be sure that the connectors you use
are compatible with your tubing.
We ran into trouble early on,
and had to reorder and return several items.
Wherever you decide to purchase your materials,
have a chat with someone who knows irrigation,
so that you can save yourself a lot of trouble
by getting what fits the first time around.



The connectors we used like these tees,



 and these elbows from DIG,
were ordered from Home Depot.

The poly was buried underground,

so the section going up the raised beds

fit snugly in the corner blocks.

The tidiness of it appeals to my inner organizer.

The poly was attached on top of the side of the beds,

creating a streamlined effect.

The end caps, also from DIG were used at the end of the system.

The 1/4" drip lines, from One Stop Outdoor,

are also made in the USA,

and can be acquired at Amazon.

We chose to use drip with holes every six inches.

These elongated barbs connected the 1/4" drip

to the 1/2" poly and the end plugs were added to the ends of the drip.

These can be found at Home Depot or Amazon.

We were happy with the flexibility of the drip.

It worked well in a number of applications,

like along our arches,

on top of our straw bales,

as well as in our raised beds.

Using a timer,

we can adjust how long and how often the water runs.

During this springtime weather,

we have it going three times a week for an hour.

It seems to be doing the trick so far.

When installing the drip,

I used clothespins to secure it in place.

It was all I had.

The tubing was held by the clothespin,

and then I just plunged it underneath the soil.

We make do with what we've got.

Then I discovered these gems from Sandbaggy.
They fit the 1/4" tubing perfectly.
Who knew?

Now it's so easy to keep the drip in place,

no matter the application.

It's a huge sense of relief,

knowing that this enormous task is over.

It was one of those projects that seems overwhelming at first,

but was really quite easy.

In fact,

I recently helped a friend install one in her new veggie garden.

Knowing that the garden is watered properly

whether or not I'm home is a comfortable feeling.

Last week I was away on a dog-sitting job,

and I didn't have one worry about the garden.

The beauty of this system,

is that it can be reconfigured with very little effort.

No doubt we will be adding areas for growing,

and this system will easily meet our needs.

If you are thinking about adding a drip system to your garden,

I'd encourage you to do it.

You'll be so glad you did.