Drip irrigation - water at the root, not in the air

What is drip irrigation installation?

Drip irrigation applies water slowly, directly onto soil, through emitters spaced along flexible tubing rather than by throwing it through the air. Because almost nothing is lost to wind, drift or evaporation, it is markedly more efficient than spray for planted areas. The components that decide whether it works long-term are unglamorous: a filter, a pressure regulator, and emitters matched to your plants.

Signs you need drip irrigation installation

• You are hand-watering beds, borders or a vegetable plot with a can or a wand
• Spray heads are wetting foliage and you are seeing leaf disease that thrives on damp leaves
• Water runs off a sloped or heavily mulched bed faster than it soaks in
• You have containers or raised beds that dry out within a day in summer
• Newly planted shrubs or a young hedge need consistent establishment watering for a season or two
• A local restriction limits spray irrigation but treats drip differently - many do, though the rules are set locally
• You are converting lawn to planting and the spray zone that served it is now watering the wrong thing

Seeing something not on this list? Browse irrigation problems by symptom →

How drip irrigation installation actually works

1. 1

   Group plants by water need before drawing anything

   Drip is precise, which only helps if things with similar needs share a line. Thirsty annual vegetables, established shrubs and drought-tolerant natives all want different volumes and different frequencies.

   Watch forOne drip line looped through a mixed bed. The precision is wasted - you end up running it for the thirstiest plant and drowning everything else, which is exactly the problem spray had.

2. 2

   Filter and pressure regulator at the head of the system

   Drip emitters have very small orifices and they are ruined by grit, so a filter goes in first. They are also designed to operate at low pressure, far below household supply, so a regulator follows.

   Watch forA kit installed without a filter because the tap water "looks clean". This is the number one cause of a drip system that works beautifully for one season and clogs the next. It also applies to municipal supply, not just wells.

3. 3

   Choose the emitter approach

   Inline emitter tubing has drippers built in at fixed spacing and suits rows, hedges and dense beds. Punch-in emitters on blank tubing suit scattered specimen plants and containers. Pressure-compensating emitters deliver the same flow regardless of position, which matters on slopes and long runs.

   Watch forNon-compensating emitters used on a slope. The plants at the bottom get far more water than the ones at the top, and the pattern is stable enough that people blame the plants.

4. 4

   Lay out the tubing and respect maximum run lengths

   Mainline tubing runs to each bed; laterals run through it. Every emitter type has a maximum run length beyond which the far end loses pressure, and manufacturers publish these figures for their own products.

   Watch forA single line stretched around an entire garden. The last few metres will underwater permanently and it looks like a soil problem.

5. 5

   Secure, flush and then cap the ends

   Tubing is pinned down with stakes so it stays where it was planned, then the whole system is flushed with the ends open to clear manufacturing debris before the end caps or flush valves go on.

   Watch forSkipping the flush. Plastic swarf from cutting and punching goes straight into the emitters, which is a self-inflicted version of the clogging problem the filter exists to prevent.

6. 6

   Cover with mulch and set a schedule that suits drip

   A layer of mulch over the tubing protects it from sun and holds moisture. Drip schedules are longer and less frequent than spray schedules - the aim is a slow soak that reaches root depth, not a daily sprinkle.

   Watch forDrip run on the lawn's short daily schedule. A few minutes a day wets only the top of the soil and trains roots to stay shallow, which is the opposite of what drip is for.

7. 7

   Integrate with the existing controller, or keep it standalone

   Drip can run off its own valve on an existing controller, or off a simple battery hose-end timer for a single bed. Where it shares a system, drip needs its own zone - never the same valve as spray heads.

   Watch forDrip teed into an existing spray zone. The two apply water at wildly different rates, so one of them is always wrong, and the drip usually gets the short run time.

What does drip irrigation installation cost?

Small bed and container systems are an inexpensive kit-and-an-afternoon project. Costs rise with the number of separate zones, the length of buried mainline, and any tie-in to an existing controller and backflow arrangement. See the Cost Guide for the ranges.

See the full drip irrigation installation cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →