We all love those perfectly green gardens – the ones where every single plant flourishes and is vibrantly green. The ones that produce a bounty of herbs, vegetables and flowers all year round.
But getting one of those picture-perfect gardens depends on perfectly watering each plant – and if you have a variety of plants, this can prove to be tricky. Especially when you consider the unpredictability of winter rains and the dry, searing heat that quickly evaporates water.
To irrigate your garden, a drip irrigation system is the perfect answer.
As an avid gardener myself, as I look out my window as I type this I can see two different drip watering systems – one for the trees along my fence-line and the other for my tomato plants.
So why did I choose a drip irrigation system?
In its most basic form, a drip irrigation system involves utilising a dripline to deliver droplets of water directly to the root of each plant.
Drip irrigation is commonly used for veggie patches and flower beds, but is also perfectly suited to vertical gardens, potted plants, fruit trees and even lawns.
If you are looking for an irrigation system that will save you time, water and money, a drip system could be the best option for you.
How?
Drip irrigation systems are great for managing the watering of your garden. The ensure that the water is going directly to the root of your plants, so they can suck it right up and remain healthy and hydrated. Plus, it minimises the risk of over-watering your plants.
However, there are a wide variety of benefits that not only give you lush, perfectly-watered plants, but also save you time, water and money. These include:
- Reduces evaporation
Evaporation is one of the biggest causes of water loss in your garden. Especially prevalent in summer, evaporation basically means your watering efforts have been in vain. Think about it, watering your plants just to have that water evaporate is a waste of not only your time, but water and the money spent on that water.
Drip systems deliver small amounts of water to your plants over an extended period making the risk of evaporation much lower – especially if you water your plants early in the morning or late in the evening.
- Reduces over-watering
As the water is delivered directly to the root of your plants through a series of slow drips, the risk of over-watering your plants is drastically reduced.
Hoses and other irrigation systems can blast your plants with water, giving them too much in too short of a time. A drip irrigation system minimises the risk of over-watering and increases the chance of perfectly watered plants.
Not only is reducing over-watering good for your plants, but the use of less water, means lower water bills.
- Reduces run-off
Preventing run-off means less wasted water, and therefore more money in your back pocket. So how can a drip system prevent run-off? By giving your plants their ideal amount of water, directly to the root there is less water being wasted on the surrounding soil. And less wasted water, means more saving for you.
- Timers
As they say, time is money. And you can save both your time and money by setting up a timer for your drip irrigation system.
A timer prevents you having to manually turn your system on and off. Plus, you can alter it based on the weather conditions to ensure you always have perfectly watered plants, with minimal effort. Thus, saving you both time and money.