This year we added a flexible drip watering system. It cost us about $125 total (we already had the soaker hoses) for fittings and a hose long enough to chop into the varied lengths needed to connect the gardens. Also, as we live in New England, the system needed to be portable -- so I could remove it before the freeze and easily reinstall it the next growing season (you'll see our sweet solution below).
I grew garlic for the first time this season (planted last fall) and so we kept in mind that some of these beds needed controlled watering -- meaning sometimes you need to stop the water to allow the plant to dry for harvest. So, we added a shut off valve at the final bed to add that flexible control. Just need to remember to consider this when I decide which bed get which crop.
There are 8 beds, each side had three and in the center are 2 smaller 4x4s. Instead of one long route around the entire garden, we split the route into 2 even parts. 3 large beds which connect to one smaller bed -- so a north route and a south route. The hose was cut into proper lengths to connect the beds, fittings added, and a soaker hose could then be positioned precisely where the plants needed the water, and an exit hose was placed to the next bed where the process continued.
In the past, I had always simply used sprinklers. In many of my beds, this is fine and I continue to do so as most of the bed supporting growth of some kind and the paths through are small. My veggie garden is quite different and for a variety of reasons, one being wanting to be more waterwise and the other wanting to keep the plants as healthy as possible by controlling for the spread of diseases and other pathogens which I had become too familiar with last year.
"Avoid using sprinklers if possible because they promote the spread of leaf, flower, and fruit infections. Trickle irrigation is a better choice because it delivers water directly to the soil without getting the rest o)f the plant wet. It also doesn't splash soil onto the plants, which can move pathogens from the ground onto the plant. (Mulches can also help reduce soil splashing." from Cornell |
This is the layout of our beds viewed from the east side. You can see the hose enters in at the cedar fence at a very easy height.
This gizmo is screwed to the rail and allows control of the two streams.
The hoses were very easy to cover with the 4 inches of pea stone. A quick valley created with a few passes of the spade and voila! a channel to safely cover the hose. It's very easy to pull up as well.
In this photo, you can see one of the elements we needed to work around. We've always had an electric fence around each bed. You can see the black insulator that hold the electric fence wire. This fence actually keeps out most animals: groundhogs, bunnies, and deer (of which we have many). Our hose needed to pass between the bed and the wire. We held it there with a simple open wire hook that screwed into the deck material and then the hose could be snapped in or out as needed.
This is the entry into the second bed. We found an angled connection which also had an on/off valve. It's July now so the peas that had grown here are removed and I've planted cucumbers on the trellis and put lettuce in the open space here next to the kale.
The soaker hoses can be place right next to the base of the tomato plants. They are totally customizable to the contents of the garden. I need that flexibility.
Here is the pepper bed (yeah, I got a late start but there are buds!)
It was done in just a few hours. Flexible, efficient, optimum use of our well water. I can't wait to see the results.
