Drip irrigation systems

[JIT]

Hi,

Has anyone installed a drip irrigation system for their gardens? and also used things such as soil moisture detectors?

What are some of the pros/cons of a drip irrigation system?

What are the costs involved and can anyone recommend a company to use to get a drip irrigation system installed?

Thanks,

GSJ

[Bleedin Thumb]

Hi GSJ,

Yeah I've installed plenty of drip systems over the years. I dont anymore I use an irrigation contractor ( and never drip) Because
1.They are quicker than me.
2. Theyre licenced.
3. If anything goes wrong its their problem

I know your taking about your own place but drip systems are a bit of a pain.
My suggestion would be forget about a cheap poly system and install proper PVC feeds and pop up overhead sprinklers. At least with the pop ups you know when they are not working and you know if you have total coverage. If you are determined to use drip the go for the leaky pipe type systems dont use the punch in type emitters.
As far as a soil moisture metre goes its called "your finger" you stick it in the ground a couple of inches and if it comes out wet and dirty the soil is moist enough.
By the way do you have water restrictions down there. You may find thet the use of irrigation sytems may be restricted.
Cheers Tony

[namtrak]

Is it for a garden bed or lawn?

[Grunt]

I've put in some of that leaky hose stuff. It's made from recycled tyres, doesn't clog and is water wise.

It's really low maintenance and simple to install.

[Clinton1]

A soil moisture detector is a great bit of kit, and simply measures the amount of moisture in the soil using a radio frequency emitted from a probe. A decent one is not cheap, a cheap one is not decent. Their best application is for irrigation systems that are expensive to run, are designed to maximise the effect of the limited water available for irrigation, in professional or agricultural applications. Soil moisture detectors are used by farmers to determine the stored water in the soil for timing the planting of seed on broadacre applications, or to schedule large scale irrigation (i.e. orchards, vinyards and some nursery applications).
It would be overkill for an irrigation system for a garden, no matter what the salesman says.

All irrigation systems need to be tied to good soil structure, i.e. doesn't matter how you apply the water if it won't get into the soil, or out of the soil and into the roots. A drip system puts water into a volume of soil, and the best one for a garden is a series of buried pipes/leaky hose. A dripper puts the water in a limited area, the leaky hose or underground pipes lay down 'wet trenches'.
Above ground drippers get blocked by dirt and ant activity. This also applies to micro-sprinklers, however you'll use less micro-sprinkers and so its quicker to unblock them. Micro-sprinklers cover a larger area per sprinker as opposed to drippers, so more roots get the water.
Low flow micro sprinklers on a timer are the best option IMO, but the leaky hose is good as well. One problem with buried leaky hose is cutting it with the shovel.

[JIT]

Hi,

This is for a garden bed in a small courtyard at the rear of a house, not for lawn.

So far, the suggested options are pop-up microsprinklers or the leaky pipe systems.

Of note, is that this property is on highly reactive clay soil and it is an investment property, with tenants who may/may not be interested in maintaining a garden bed.

With these systems, do they switch off if it is raining???

Are you able to set a time/frequency for them to turn on/off???

I want to try and ´auto-pilot´ the maintenance of this garden bed and ultimately try and keep soil moisture levels stable (to assist with preventing cracking in the house). I will be planting native shrubs with low-moderate moisture requirements in the garden bed.

Any other suggestions?

GSJ

[namtrak]

....garden bed in a small courtyard ......... pop-up microsprinklers or the leaky pipe systems..............highly reactive clay soil and it is an investment property.........With these systems, do they switch off if it is raining???.............
Are you able to set a time/frequency for them to turn on/off???............
´auto-pilot´..........keep soil moisture levels stable............... (to assist with preventing cracking................native shrubs with low-moderate moisture.........

There's a myriad of things in there.

There are three sprinkler options pop-up, soaker, drip systems.

If it was me I would:

Not bother with an automated system at all - cost/benefit ratio - particularly if your planting natives.

Spread Gypsum to break up the clay. Mulch it heavily, with different mulches every 6 months or so (talk to your tenants).

Use a cheap timer setup from a hardware store straight from a tap. You will only need 3/6 months for the garden to establish by itself. Then the watering system will become obsolete.

As for some of the other things, yes there are rainfall meters on the automated systems which turn the system off when its been raining, and there is a great deal of flexibility in setting the timings of these units.

Finally, the cost difference is about $40 as opposed to about $800.

Cheers