First Time Dripper (irrigation, trees, containers, vines)

[mshelenlu]

Hi all, I am new to gardening and have a raised bed with some dwarf trees, veggies and large flowers. Hand watering is becoming a pain and I can't seem to get the formula right for how much and when to deliver water to my plants.

I am thinking a drip will be the best system? What are the advantages and is it the best way to irrigate? Is is simple enough for me to do myself or am I best off hiring a gardener who can do the initial set up for me?

Lastly, drip vs soaker hose?

THANK YOU KINDLY FOR YOUR INPUT.

[flowbe202]

Soaker hoses are best when you're tightly planted say in a vegetable or perennial garden.

Drip lines (one or 2drip heads off a feeder pipe) are best when you have specific plantings you're targeting -- grape vines on a trellis, containers on a deck, etc.

From what you're planting it sounds like a soaker is better. You can still run drip line similar to different "zones" in an irrigation system. If you can post pics of your garden, it would help!

[Hemlock140]

I have both. I use a soaker hose for my bonsai, young trees in the ground and for the greenhouse vegetable garden. I use drip for some shrubs and grapevines. Anyone can set up a drip system, but do some research into how much water the plants need and spend for a good timer. Cheap ones fail and you end up with dead plants. The drip emitters vary in how much water they deliver, and there's a big difference between 1/2 gallon or 4 gallons per hour. After you set up either systm you must check daily to ensure that you are watering enough and change the timer settings as needed. I find that I have to change them 2-3 times a year, when it gets hot in mid-July, and again in early September when it starts getting cooler.