Water is your plant’s lifeblood. Naturally, it is paramount to have a properly designed irrigation system that will keep your plants healthy and vibrant. This also means your system should reduce risk of pest and disease damage and even protect the quality of your soil, all while reducing workload.

Poorly designed systems are failure prone, can over- or under-water, and can even flood or erode landscaped areas. In most cases, low water pressure is the main reason for irrigation problems.

Before you plant, your soil should be tested for drainage and absorbance, and this will also help identify optimal ways to provide irrigation to the area.

Self sealing drip emitters attach to poly tubing, watering only where needed.

To start with, irrigation needs are unique to every region, soil condition, temperature, and foliage, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. In order to install landscape irrigation that works, you will need a landscape expert who understands terms like coverage, line pressure, backflow prevention, and isolation.

Many southwestern areas restrict the types of landscape plants you can use because of water scarcity. In dry areas, deeper and less frequent watering helps plants to develop deeper, more drought tolerant root structures.

If you live in a dry or drought-prone area, you may want to consider utilizing post laundry or shower gray-water to supplement your irrigation needs. Many western municipalities reuse treated effluent for golf course, park and landscape irrigation to save both money and water, but check local laws.

Irrigation design is fairly complex, requiring expert knowledge of pipe size and material, ways of boosting water pressure, routing and concealing irrigation plumbing and hardware, safety and water quality protection.

Some states and cities require a professional plumber to connect landscape irrigation systems to municipal water lines, and installation of electrically powered valves and timers may require a licensed electrician.

Building codes may also require anti-siphon or backflow devices, so surface water won’t be pulled back into water lines and residential plumbing. That sort of problem is not unusual; anytime dogs run in yards with sprinklers, contamination may occur.

The goal for a landscape irrigation plan is 100 percent survival rate of plants, using the minimum amount of water to do the job. Underground and aboveground pipes, valves, drains, controllers and electrical wiring are all elements in a landscape irrigation system. Today, most new landscape irrigation systems utilize timers and remotely operated valves, saving gardeners the repetitive task of turning irrigation on and off.

Generally, watering should be done every other day and programmable units can be set for this or any other duration and frequency. Your landscape designer will walk you through the programming process and once it is up and running, how to fine-tune it, as needed.

Flood-type, micro-drip and spray, rotary, and conventional sprayers are the four main types of landscape irrigation systems used. Which is best for you depends on many factors.

Spray and sprinkler

The most common type of landscape irrigation system uses traditional sprinkler heads. Officially known as spray irrigation, these systems tend to work best in small, regular-shaped landscape areas. Sprinklers don’t require a lot of maintenance, except where the water supply is heavily mineralized. In these cases, plan to budget for periodic replacement of sprinkler heads and other irrigation system components.

Spray systems are adjustable and can cover areas anywhere from one foot to 15 feet. They perform well, even with low water pressure, and the only time pressure boosters are needed are in areas where hillside landscape elevation is much higher than your property’s water inlet source, whether municipal or well.

Sprinklers evenly cover a wide area, but a downside is that they’re not very precise. Windy conditions and misadjusted sprayers end up watering hardscapes and pavement instead of plants; plus, spray systems waste varying amounts of water through evaporation.

Gravity and spring loaded heads pop up automatically when the water is turned on. These are best in areas with foot traffic and playing children, because most sprinklers and the underground risers to which they attach are made of breakable PVC plastic.

Rotary

For larger areas of landscape or turf, rotary sprinklers are better suited, because they can cover more area, as much as 100 feet from the sprayer.

Rotary sprayers use gear driven or impact hammer mechanisms to rotate the spray head in a circle. These systems must operate longer because they distribute less water over a given period of time. There are successful applications of this system in many locales; in Maryland, a horse-breeder keeps runs green while saving money on hardware by using high-output rotary sprinklers.

Rotary systems work better with higher water pressure, but the rotating head can stick in one place, so periodic checks are required as part of regular maintenance.

Notice an unexplainable rise in your water bill? Chances are, a landscaping component may be the cause. Properly designed landscape irrigation systems use isolation valves to protect the rest of your irrigation system if a single component or sprinkler fails.

Flood Systems

Roses, fruit trees and ground cover type plants may be susceptible to dampness-related problems like mold and diseases. Flood type systems eliminate this sort of problem, because they flood the ground instead of spraying plants.

Bubblers, bed sprayers and jet systems are types of flood irrigation. These work best in situations where conventional sprayers or micro irrigation systems aren’t effective.

In porous soils, for example, low flow irrigation won’t spread to cover an entire root system. In heavily sloped areas, higher flow systems like sprinklers can cause the water to run off before it has a chance to soak into soil. If you live where clay or adobe dominate soil conditions, flood systems are a good choice.

For homeowners looking at planting trees or other crops, consider checking to see if local irrigation district water is available.

One Utah property owner with access to irrigation-only ditch water diverts it from a curbside ditch sluiceway to irrigate summer crops. While this source of water is untreated, it’s a cost-conscious way to flood-irrigate trees and small crops on residential acreage. Contact your local landscaper or county agricultural agent for more information about the potential of using this application in your area.

Micro-irrigation

Low volume drip or micro irrigation is a water-saving technology that has come into its own in recent years.

Developed and refined by Israeli agricultural researchers, micro irrigation is ideal in arid climates where water is precious.

Tiny emitters drip or trickle directly onto the plant root zone, so only as much water as needed is used. This is also an excellent irrigation method for plants susceptible to leaf mold or other diseases.

Soil amendments can be added directly to the drip irrigation feed, saving time and resources. A Central California rancher uses drip irrigation to grow zinfandel wine grapes on a rocky hillside that was formerly unusable.

One downside to micro irrigation is that the tubing is above ground, so damage can occur from freezing, vandalism or dirt contamination.

Generally, micro irrigation is not suited for lawns and turf, but groundcover, shrubs, and even dwarf fruit trees are good candidates for drip or trickle irrigation.

Polyethylene tubing is typically run along a row of plants in a landscaped area, then connected to a water supply.

Small sprayers or drip heads have special pointed tips that pierce the poly tubing and self-seal. Because the tubes and their emitters are located at each plant, only the roots of that plant receive water while the rest of the ground remains dry. An added advantage of micro irrigation is weed control.

Drip irrigation is prone to clogging, because plants can grow and block the tiny orifices in drip emitters. One emitter may fail and go unnoticed until plant damage has occurred, but drip irrigation parts are inexpensive and easy to replace.

Drainage

Proper drainage is an important part of irrigation, even though drains are physically a separate element.

Underground drains may be needed where sloping planters terminate in hardscape walls that leave irrigation water nowhere to go once it soaks into the soil. Impermeable soil can also prevent drainage, leading to root damage.

Turf also requires proper drainage. Most commercially grown and installed turf types are close-matted, so it takes awhile for water to permeate. Lawn and grass problems are most often traced to poor irrigation design and maintenance, and while most lawn grass varieties require significant irrigation, they’re also susceptible to over-watering.

Installing shallow gravel pits or drains that connect to flexible poly piping will help eliminate brown, swampy areas that usually signal poor lawn drainage.

Roof rain runoff areas may require a drain or gravel sump to protect plants and structures. For all of these reasons, it is essential to include adequate drainage elements in your landscape plan.