DIY Network

Curb Upheaval: Installing a Drip Irrigation System Installing a drip irrigation system keeps your flowers and trees blooming, but don’t bury the tubing, try these tips. From "Sweat Equity" episode DSEQ-111

While the sprinkler system is going in the installers run tubing from the main line to the side yard and the new plantings. Amy shows Jeanette how to make this a slow drip irrigation system for her new trees and plants, and by doing some of the irrigation herself Jeanette saves some green.

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Materials:

1/2" drip tubing
1/4"drip tubing
emitter (1 gal/hour)
connectors
emitter insert tool
goof plugs
wire cutters or scissors

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F
	Figure G

Drip Irrigation System Tips:

• Water plants between 5 and 9 am. Water evaporates too quickly during the day and watering at night leaves plants and trees vulnerable to fungus and disease.

• Consult your local nursery for trees and plants that will grow best in your area.

• While sprinkler systems are 70- to 80-percent efficient, drip irrigation can be 90 percent or higher.

• Half-inch tubing can be 16mm or 18mm and the parts are NOT interchangeable! So make sure you know which 1/2" tubing and parts you’re using when you start a project.

Safety Alert:

• Before you dig, call 811. The Common Ground Alliance has set up a national public service number, 811, connecting you with your local utilities marking organization. Make the call two days before starting an outdoor project.

How to Install a Drip Irrigation System:

• The Ekstrands hire a crew to install a sprinkler system and they attach 1/2" above ground tubing running it along the flowerbeds and around the new trees (figure A).

• Amy cuts sections of 1/4" tubing, also called "spaghetti" or distribution tubing, long enough to reach just inside the perimeter of the plants (figure B).

  Tip: The end of the emitter should not sit right next to the stem of the plant. As a plant matures, cut the tubes shorter and move them further away from the plant to strengthen the root base.

• Amy then plugs a connector into one side of the tube (figure C) and an emitter onto the other side (figure D).

• Amy then pokes a hole into the main 1/2" tube with an insert tool (figure E), and puts the connector end of the spaghetti tubing into the main line (figure F).

• Amy snakes the spaghetti tube under the plant canopy (figure G). The Ekstrands later stake the tubes down with steel wire and cover them with mulch.

  Tip: Don’t bury drip irrigation tubing, in most cases gophers will chew it up and tubing left above ground can be tempting for squirrels. An emitter running to a small bowl or basin can often distract wildlife away from your irrigation and covering the rest of your system with mulch will protect it too.

RESOURCES :
Common Ground Alliance
Call Before You Dig "Call 811"
Toll-free: 811
Website: www.call811.com/default.aspx

GUESTS :
Jason Yocum, ASLA
Landscape Architect
SunStone Design LLC
Denver, CO
Phone: 720-273-8488
E-mail: sunstonedesign@att.net