[Arid_gardener] Re: Best way to Irrigate Garden Bed

[Olin Miller]

You might try 1/4" soaker dripline.  It has small 1/2 GPH emitters that are
extruded into 1/4" tubing at 6, 12 or 24 inch intervals. The 1 foot spacing
is pretty widely available locally but you may need to go on line (see
http://www.dripworksusa.com/store/soakdrp.php) for the 6 inch and 2 foot
spacing.  Or you can run two lines of the 1 foot spacing in parallel, offset
to 6 inches to get the same effect as or the 6 inch tubing.

This dripline can be wound through flower beds or borders, around trees or
shrubs, run down rows or raised vegetable beds.  One thing they don't always
tell you is that you need
a pressure regulator of 20 psi or less so as not to blow out the emitters in
warm weather and also to get even distribution.  Also the useful length of
the line is limited to, e.g. 28 feet for the 1 foot spacing - less if the
line runs uphill.

You can also get half inch drip soaker tubing that connects with the
standard blue-stripe compression fittings.  It is said to run at household
water pressure but it is advisable to use a 30 psi pressure regulator
because it can separate at the connectors if it is run during hot weather.
It is somewhat rigid and is best used around trees or along a shrubbery
hedge.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County AZ
============================================

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <yafadance at yahoo.com>
To: <arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 12:35 PM
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page


> Dianna Suslo
> 85022
> yafadance at yahoo.com
>
> What is the best way to irrigate a 2 1/2 foot wide garden bed, full of
> shrubs, smaller plants like salvias, wild flowers and ground covers? The
> drippers don't cover enough area, the little sprinlers cover too much
> area, the shrubblers dump out too much water in one place. What is the
> solution?
> Thanks.
> Dianna