Plant Gardens 101

Gardening is the number one hobby in the United States. Americans want their lawns and gardens to look good and for them to look good they need to be watered regularly and properly. Vegetable gardens, lawns and landscape plantings all have different watering needs. Most gardeners would prefer to spend their time gardening instead of watering the garden. Installing an automatic irrigation system to water for you can free up your time to spend on other things.

A drip irrigation system is relatively easy to install yourself. With drip irrigation you are applying water directly to the soil slowly. Drip irrigation is much more efficient than sprinkler irrigation because you are applying the water directly to the soil. It isn’t evaporating on its way to the soil nor is it running off the soil and you are putting it only where you need it, on the roots. You need a backflow valve to make sure the water doesn’t flow back into the house, a pressure regulator, a filter, a tubing adapter and the drip tubing and that’s it. (more…)

An important first step in planning a lawn irrigation system is determining what type of soil you have. How often you should water your lawn will depend on the type of soil you have. The two major concerns with any irrigation system are the health of the plants and conserving water.

There are three basic types of soil. The three types are: clay soils, loamy soils and sandy soils. Sandy soils dry out quickly and require frequent watering. You have to be careful you don’t water too much at one time with sandy soils. Too much water will drain quickly down through the soil moving too fast for the roots to absorb it, plus the water is wasted. The best approach with sandy soils is to water for a short period of time several times.

Clay soils also benefit from watering over several short periods. Clay soils retain water but absorb it slowly so several short periods allow the water to slowly seep into the soil. (more…)