When you hear the term ‘irrigation system,’ you may immediately picture farm systems that are utilized in the field or greenhouse systems. The truth is that all landscapes can flourish when given the proper amount of irrigation alongside ideal drainage solutions. Home irrigation systems are becoming an innovation that allows homeowners to enjoy a beautiful landscape that they’re proud to call their own without a lot of hands-on turf maintenance.
The Benefits Of Home Irrigation Systems
Many homeowners believe that their hose is enough of an irrigation system for their garden and turf maintenance. The truth is that your hose doesn’t compare to what a real home irrigation system can do for you. As home irrigation systems grow in popularity, homeowners are understanding more and more of the benefits that come along with these types of systems for their turf maintenance needs.
Prevents Weeds And Disease
- One major difference between a home irrigation system and traditional hose watering is the direction of the water. With a hose, the entire garden is getting watered like a rainstorm. With irrigation systems, the water can be directed specifically at the rootball of each plant.
- This reduces the amount of water that the rest of the garden gets. With less water, the surrounding weeds are unable to germinate. This leads to fewer weeds in your garden. In addition, the direct water to the root of the plant helps to eliminate the spread of any blight diseases that are present on the leaves of the plants.
Conserves Water
- When you utilize hand watering via a hose, it’s hard to control the amount of water that your garden gets. You don’t really know specifically from day to day how much water you’re actually putting down on your landscape. This tends to lead to over water consumption. When you install an irrigation system, it only lets out a specific amount of water for a set amount of time. This way, you can be assured that you’re using the same amount of water each time. We’re sure you’ll notice a reduction in your water bill once you start implementing the help of home irrigation systems.
Saves Labor Time
- One of the most time-consuming parts about having a garden or a done-up landscape is the watering. It becomes a morning and nightly ritual to water. This can deter homeowners from indulging in a more extravagant landscape or even a garden as they don’t have the time to commit to watering. With home irrigation systems, you don’t have to commit time each day to watering. Instead, your irrigation system will have timers that you can set up to water when you need it.
Preserves Nutrients And Soil Structure
- As you learned above, it’s hard to control the amount of water that you’re using when watering with a traditional garden hose. In most cases, the hose will allow for too much water to be spread on the soil. When too much water is introduced into the soil, it can lead to leach out of the nutrients in the excess water runoff. This means your plants will have fewer nutrients available in the soil to grow.
- Apart from getting too much water, the soil can actually become compacted when you utilize watering via a hose. Compacted soil can lead to suffocating of the plants and root disease. Withering plants are the first sign that your soil is compacted. When you utilize a home irrigation system, there will be smaller droplets of water produced that will ensure your soil doesn’t get compacted. In addition, less water will be utilized, which will keep those vital nutrients in your soil.
As you can see, irrigation systems can provide homeowners with many benefits. From saving you time to ensuring you have nutrient-rich soil, these watering systems are becoming the ideal choice for any homeowner. If you don’t already have one installed, you should consider getting one installed in the near future.
Types Of Home Irrigation Systems
Now, you know the importance of having your very own home irrigation system. There are multiple types of irrigation systems out there for you to choose from. We’re going to go over the most popular below so you can identify which type of watering system is going to fit your individual needs best.
Drip Irrigation
- This type of irrigation system is best utilized for flower beds, trees, and gardens. This system used drip emitters to let out a small amount of water in the direct location of the plant’s root. This holds true for all plants, but those that are drought-tolerant or drought-resistant. These types of plants will experience shock if the emitters are too close. This slow trickle of water gently soaks deep into the soil and allows the plant to intake water as needed from the ground.
Sprinkler System
- Another commonly used irrigation system is the sprinkler system, which tosses water into the air. This gives a rainshower to the plants. It’s important to note that this type of system is best utilized in the early morning hours to avoid unnecessary evaporation. If done in the afternoon, the heat of the sun will drastically limit the amount of rainwater that is administered to the plants. This type of system is recommended for lawns. This type of system is not intended for deep-rooted plants.
Blended Irrigation
- The best way to ensure the proper watering of your landscape is to blend together the various types of technologies on the market. Most homeowners will utilize a blend of a drip irrigation system and a sprinkler irrigation system. As mentioned above, drip irrigation works best for deep-rooted plants like gardens and flower beds, while the sprinkler irrigation system works best for the lawn.
Soaker Hoses
- A form of drip irrigation, soaker hoses are not automated. They work by being connected to a water source, and the water is ‘wept’ from the tiny holes throughout the hose. These types of soaker hoses can be placed under the mulch or on the ground. You’ll need several hoses that are connected to one another to run your extensive line of irrigation to your plants.
Rainwater Harvesting
- Lastly, we have rainwater harvesting, which is a form of ‘green’ watering. In this type of system, rainwater is collected via barrels or underground cisterns. These barrels or cisterns are created in a closed system in order to prevent evaporation of rainwater before use. This type of system uses hoses attached to the output device to direct the rainwater to the irrigation site.
Automation Technology
One of the biggest advantages of having a home irrigation system installed is that it can be completely automated once set up correctly. Many irrigation systems come with programmable controllers that allow the homeowner to handle multiple areas and their start times. Some systems can even monitor the weather to stop watering if there is natural rain that occurs. Others include valves and regulators that actively control the water pressure to a more even flow regardless of the fluctuations of your property.
The Role Of Drainage Solutions In Your Irrigation System
Every good irrigation system will require drainage solutions to ensure that your landscape flourishes. Without the right drainage solutions, you’ll find that your irrigation efforts are completely useless. The most common problems that you’ll notice when you don’t have proper drainage for your landscape include:
- Water Pooling And Puddling
- Soggy Lawn
- Reduction In Nutrient-Rich Top Soil
- Water Clogged Soil
- In Severe Cases, Water Accumulation In The Basement
- Death Of Plants, Shrubs, And Trees
Drainage solutions are designed to assist in removing excess water from your landscape. This helps to ensure that your plants and soil only receive the ideal amount of water to flourish. Choosing the right drainage solutions for your lawn starts with understanding the various options that you have.
Types Of Drainage Systems
As you’ve discovered, drainage is a vital component of any type of irrigation system. There are two main types of drainage systems that you can employ at your home to get rid of excess water. These include the surface drainage system and the subsurface drainage system. It’s vital that you understand the difference between the two so you can choose the right system to fit your needs.
Surface Drainage Systems
This is one of the most standard types of drainage systems for homeowners. This system uses the natural force of gravity to remove excess water. You’ll find the surface drainage system available in both graded and bedded systems. Graded systems utilize a natural sloping of the land to allow water to run out to a lower surface away from the plants. The bedded system is ideal for flat locations where there are run off beds constructed in the soil to ensure proper water drainage from around the roots of the plants in the landscape.
Subsurface Drainage Systems
The subsurface drainage system is constructed below the ground, which is growing in popularity. It also utilizes the natural force of gravity to allow excess water runoff from the landscaping soil. Depending on the application, subsurface drainage systems can utilize interceptor drains, mole drains, groundwater pumps, and/or PVC slotted pipes for better turf maintenance at your home.
The Biggest Watering Mistakes That Homeowners Make
One of the best ways to learn about great watering practices and why an irrigation system is going to be a vital part of your home watering practices is to understand the mistakes that homeowners make. When you can identify the problem and learn about why it’s harming your lawn, you can start to really understand better solutions to turf maintenance. Here are the most common mistakes homeowners make when it comes to watering their landscape without an irrigation system.
Mid-Day Watering
Many would like to say they don’t do this; however, they can be culpable to this mistake. It’s hard to create a routine for daily watering at the right time. This can lead to watering in the middle of the day. The problem with watering when the sun is out, and it is warm outside that the water will easily evaporate.
Most of the water will evaporate before it ever reaches the roots of the plants. This leads to a shortage of water for your plants, which can result in death overtime. Instead, morning watering is ideal as it’s still cool enough outside for the water to reach the roots of the plants without evaporating.
Watering The Leaves
If you think back to your elementary days of science class, you learned that plants intake water through their root system. However, how often do you find yourself watering the leaves along with the plant? If you’re like most homeowners, the answer is often. To ensure great turf maintenance, you want to direct the water towards the roots of the plants and avoid the foliage all together.
Overwatering
Yes, overwatering your plants can be just as harmful as not watering them at all. This can have your head spinning, wondering how you can ever get the right amount of water to your plants. The truth is that irrigation systems are the best for turf maintenance as they take the headache out of understanding the appropriate amount of water you need for your plants.
Overwatering happens when the soil ends up retaining too much water. It makes it difficult for the plants to intake the oxygen they need to flourish. The excess water will eventually suffocate the plant, and you’ll notice it start to wilt. The homeowner commonly perceives this wilting as a lack of water for the plant. This typically results in the homeowner overwatering the plant even more. To avoid this issue in general, install an irrigation system for your turf maintenance needs.
Home irrigation systems are becoming a popular choice for many homeowners who are interested in having a flourishing landscape. These systems not only make turf maintenance easy, but they also provide the perfect solution to craft beautiful plants, shrubs, and trees that thrive. If you’re having trouble with getting your ideal landscape, contact Hydro Dynamics Corp, about having your very own irrigation system installed.
