If you’re any kind of a handy person, you know a drip is usually bad news. Leaky faucet. Leaky roof. Busted toilet. Grab the tool box. Ugh.
Not this time. Installing a drip irrigation system causes drips. But it’s a good thing — a great way to water your plants.
Should you tackle DIY drip irrigation installation? Will it make you swear as much as that last leaky roof repair did?
Leave your tool box for now and let’s take a look.
Unlike a typical sprinkler system that sprays water from irrigation heads, drip irrigation uses hoses pierced with tiny holes that allow small quantities of water to trickle slowly into the soil.
Drip irrigation consists of a lot of tubing fitted with tiny plastic emitters that allow the water to drip out. The tubing snakes around and among your plants and drips water into the soil at the roots.
Installing a drip irrigation system yourself? You can buy the tubing either pre-punched, with emitters already installed every 18 inches, or unperforated, where you punch the holes and attach the emitters yourself.
The hoses are installed on top of your soil, then covered with mulch to hide them. Stay on top of that mulch. If your mulch gets thin, the sun can dry out and crack the plastic tubing.
Also, tools like your lawn edger can cut the tubes if they’re exposed. So a little extra care is needed to keep everything tucked nicely away where it’s supposed to be.
You can find kits and individual components online and at home centers, garden centers, and plumbing suppliers.
Kits include directions and some offer video tutorials.
Doesn’t sound too bad. So, why leave it to the pros? A few reasons:
Professional drip irrigation installation services will draw up a detailed blueprint to make sure all of your plants are watered, and each plant gets just the right amount of water.
Shrubs need more drip heads than flowers. Trees need even more.
If you install a drip irrigation system yourself, you mess it up, and your plants drown or die of thirst, why bother?
Professional drip irrigation installation services have great ideas, like running tubes up through the bottoms of your planters that tie into your irrigation system. Tiny emitters connected to the tubes water your plants — no more pesky hand watering!
Once you’re done installing a drip irrigation system, you can’t just ignore it and hope for the best.
Hoses eventually need repair or replacement. They require maintenance, too. Filters and emitters can get clogged. Hoses can accumulate debris.
Your drip irrigation system will need to be flushed out once in a while.
Or, call your Orlando drip irrigation installation services and they’ll fix it while you relax by the pool.
Once your drip irrigation system is installed, it’s practically invisible. But that doesn’t mean you can just ignore it.
Drip irrigation needs routine maintenance, just like your lawn irrigation system.
Trust Ground Source for expert drip irrigation installation in Orlando, and for the routine inspections to make sure the pressure is right, emitters are working properly, and your controller is set for the right season.
We’re irrigation experts, but our skills don’t stop there. We’re with you every step of the way as you plan your perfect outdoor space.
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