Garden Water Irrigation

Saving water is always an important task, even when gardening. One of the major uses of water in the garden can be the irrigation system that the gardener has chosen to use. There are several different irrigation types, such as an automatic system, a manual system, a drip system, a sprinkler system, a micro-spray system or even a low-pressure system. Each of these systems has its own maintenance requirements that should be done in order to insure that no water is being wasted.

If an automatic timer is being used to water the garden, the gardener should inspect the control panel for that system monthly. To do this the system clock should be allowed to go through all the stations, thus watering the garden as usual. While this is occurring go out into the garden and inspect the irrigation system and how it is delivering the water. This is when you should be able to tell if there is any runoff or other problems with the system. Make adjustments to the system if they are needed.

If a manual system is being used to water the garden, the gardener should inspect the heads after all the valves have been open. Make any adjustments that are necessary. Also, it is a good idea to see how much time passes until the water begins to runoff for each valve so you will have an idea how long to water the garden without wasting water.

Other potential problems can arise anytime there is pressure on the water lines involved with irrigating the garden, irregardless of whether the system is automatic or manual. Some of these potential problems that can be watches for are broken heads, out of adjustment heads, jammed pop-up or gear driven heads, broken lines and risers or risers that are too short.

Drip systems will have their own problems to watch for. These can be watched for when the valve is turned on and water is allowed to flow through the supply line from the valve to the last head on the system. While this water is flowing, look for clogged up emitters and leaks in the supply line from the valve to the last head on the system. Finally, it is a good idea to flush the system periodically so that any build up inside will be removed from the line.

Gardeners who are using a micro-spray system can watch for problems with their chosen method of irrigating their garden by turning on each valve in the system and inspecting each and every head in the system. The main things to watch for with the micro-spray system is plants that are blocking the heads as they try to water the garden. Make adjustments as needed to the heads or relocate them if necessary.

Low-pressure systems are probably the easiest irrigation system to maintain when watering the garden. All the gardener has to do to maintain this system is clean the filter regularly that is located either close to the faucet or the valve.