I think a lot of the drip irrigation stuff sold in gardening catalogues
and places like Walmart is not really useful, as it just replaces using
a hose.

The way to save with any irrigation system is to have a controller that
irrigates very early in the day (before most people are up), so the
water soaks into the earth and you lose none to evaporation by the sun.

I would suggest you look at the web sites of some of the irrigation
companies, where they explain how to design and install the system. I
know rainbird has drip irrigation systems, and I would guess that the
other companies, like Toro, also have them.

Carl 1 Lucky Texan wrote:
I know nothing about the issue other than glancing at some stuff at
Wal-mart and looking on Ebay. I have 2-3 areas in my backyard I may try
to set up for this.

Basically, I'm wondering if anyone has advice on brands to use/avoid or
books/websites with some general guidance.

thanx guys

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

Not@home wrote:

I think a lot of the drip irrigation stuff sold in gardening catalogues
and places like Walmart is not really useful, as it just replaces using
a hose.

The way to save with any irrigation system is to have a controller that
irrigates very early in the day (before most people are up), so the
water soaks into the earth and you lose none to evaporation by the sun.

I would suggest you look at the web sites of some of the irrigation
companies, where they explain how to design and install the system. I
know rainbird has drip irrigation systems, and I would guess that the
other companies, like Toro, also have them.

Carl 1 Lucky Texan wrote:

I know nothing about the issue other than glancing at some stuff at
Wal-mart and looking on Ebay. I have 2-3 areas in my backyard I may
try to set up for this.

Basically, I'm wondering if anyone has advice on brands to use/avoid
or books/websites with some general guidance.

thanx guys

Carl
1 Lucky Texan


That is good advice, particularly for my area as loss to wind and
evaporation are quite high I suspect later in the day. I'm not averse to
handwatering per se and will still likley be 'in' the garden almost
daily anyway - I'd just like to do as you say and set up a timer for 3-4
am or so. Now, I frequently use a mechanical timer to water my front
lawn and some landscape plants, setting it at bedtime. Works quite well.
But in the back it is less practical and more likely to damage many of
the plants.

Carl


--
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)