ith the Mid-Atlantic Region — and more specifically York & Lancaster Counties (PA), Baltimore & Harford Counties (MD) — struggling through the past 5-6 years of "The Unending Drought From Hell", it's a very daunting task for
dedicated and enthusiastic Gardeners like you, and us, just to continue to maintain the existing gardens and landscapes, let alone consider creating some new areas. Drip Irrigation is the smart choice for new landscapes, and is easily and
economically retrofitted to any existing landscape. We've been doing it for the past 7 years, to hundreds of gardens and landscapes, in both new installations, and the retrofitting of existing landscapes. In fact, Drip Irrigation Systems are mandatory on all Landscape Projects we do, or we decline the job.
Drip Irrigation is the most efficient method of irrigating. While sprinkler systems are around 60-65% efficient, Drip
Irrigation Systems are typically 90% efficient, or even higher. What that means is much less wasted water, due to evaporative loss or run-off. For this reason, Drip Irrigation is the preferred method of irrigation in the desert regions of the United States, Israel, India, Africa and other regions of the World's arid areas, or where homes are on restrictive wells with 1-2 GPM (gallons per minute) flows, or less.
The high efficiency of Drip Irrigation results from three primary factors: first, the water soaks into the soil below the mulched surface, before it can evaporate or run-off; the second benefit is that the water is only applied where it is needed — closer to the plant's roots — rather than sprayed everywhere and subject to huge evaporative loss and waste; and third, the moisture level is steadily maintained at the plants' roots, during the critical growing months. When the days become shorter and the plants need less water, you can shorten the irrigation time manually, and stop it completely before the dormancy period begins.
It's real simple. We can run the 1"(OD) black PVC pipe, under the mulch, with built-in, pressure-compensating drip emitters every 12" along the piping (no; not those spaghetti tube drippers) around your foundation plants, and install a "Y-splitter"
on your outdoor faucet, for your convenience. Or if your gardens are in distant island beds, or just across the yard, we can trench a 1" solid black PVC pipe 6-8" down into the lawn (no one ever sees it), and re-surface it, in the distant garden areas. The final option is to simply have a female hose fitting sticking out of the distant bed's mulch, allowing you to pull a garden hose across the lawn and connect to it, to do the irrigation chores. Since it's self-draining, there's no need to even think about it in the Winter months, as you relax by the fire and read-up on the newly-arrived gardening magazines, "dog-earing" pages which have some "special" garden beds, plants and new landscape ideas, which you're ready to try-out in the Spring. How effortless is that?
We have several miles of Drip Irrigation installed at John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery, and with the 6 of 8 wells used to irrigate 20 acres, it's a lifesaver. It would be physically-impossible to irrigate the tens-of-thousands of
plants we have here, without it. Next time you stop by, ask to see the various Drip Irrigation Systems we have in daily use, for the various applications, on-site. Combined with computerized, multiple-zone controllers, the Drip Irrigation Systems work effortlessly and silently, behind-the-scenes, under the mulch, to keep the connected plant material well-watered and fertilized, during the critical 8-9 months of the growing season.
Of course, your system probably won't be as extensive or require a multi-zone controller, but the premise is the same: a minimum of effort, greatly-reduced water bills, a maximum of plant survival, health and beauty.
Or, if you're a DIY (do-it-yourselfer) gardener, we can design and build the Drip Irrigation System, which you can then easily install yourself, in a few weekend hours. No more reading scores of pages of vague directions from those drip-kit systems, and indulging in the "Festival of Some Assembly Required", while finding that there are crucial parts missing.
After installing it, simply turn it on when you come home from work, in the evenings, and turn it off 2hrs later. Twice a week; maybe 3x a week, if "The Unending Drought From Hell" gets really bad. Everything's perfectly-watered at the root level, and well-refreshed for the next day's conditions.
Back in 1998, I coined the phrase: "Mother Nature's in charge; we're just along for the ride". With a custom built and fitted Drip Irrigation System, you can now have a say in what Mother Nature does.
If the thought of effortlessly-irrigating your gardens, and having healthy, spectacular-looking plants all Summer, even during drought periods, intrigues you, call us for a free consultation and estimate.
Drip Irrigation