Introduction for Flower Bed Irrigation for Seniors

This blog instruction is seasonal. I have described it in a few articles with pictures. Modern drip irrigation began its development in Afghanistan in 1866, source is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drip_Irrigation .

Overview

1. Start Smart-Drip-Hose™ by laying a yardstick or a length of clothesline, 5 or 10 feet in your flowerbed.
2. Use your camera to take a picture of your flowerbed with the yardstick or clothesline in it.  You are creating a useful measure of garden size in your picture.  It will help you estimate how much soaker hose or drip hose you will need.
3. This irrigation method is a seasonal watering replacement of your garden hose.  You do not need to get a variance or building permit, as long as it is connected to your outside faucet and is above ground. See top of picture.
4. We older gardeners are not as flexible as younger gardeners are, nor able to physically drag hoses or stand outside in the sun to water their flowerbeds.
5. In summary, we are going to connect an AA battery powered easy-to-use water hose timer. [See my photo.] Each timer waters a different zone.  Detail explanation later.
6. You have 3 basic choices. Choice 1, Just add a timer to your current sprinkler system.  Choice 2, substitute a soaker hose that you leave in place for the season.  Choice 3, connect a pressure reducer to your timer and install a ½” drip system or a ¼” drip system and leave it there for the season.  At the end of the season, leave the drip line in the garden but remove the timer and pressure reducer, drain the water and store it in your storage area until next spring.
7.  You will learn how to substitute the traditional garden hose with a lightweight half inch or quarter inch line to carry the water to the location where needed and drip it to the roots of the plants.

To begin, we need to learn a few words not ordinarily used in our vocabulary:

• Smart-Drip-Hose™ is my method of combining photography in design and installation of the Timer, and supporting water saving techniques described here.
• Hose bib, the source of water mounted on the outside of your condo or home
• Hose thread, the normal male and female ends of garden hose or accessories that twist together and make a good water connection.
• Battery operated timer, a unit that turns your source of water on, beginning at a time of day that you set, runs for the number of minutes you want to water, runs only on the days that you set, every day, every 2^nd day, etc.  When it times out, it shuts the water flow to the hose or drip system.  The timers I use have two AA [flashlight] type batteries. I replace them with new batteries at the beginning of the season. The best time to start watering is early in the morning before sunrise.
• Water Pressure Gauge, to measure your water pressure at the hose bib.
• Five-gallon tub, to measure how long it takes to get 5 gallons of water.
• Note: The combined information of your water pressure at the hose bib and the volume of water that comes through set the criteria how much water you can distribute to your garden in a period of time.
• Distribution line carries water to the garden but does not water it.
• Emitter line drips water through built in openings at a specified rate.
• Soaker hose is porous and leaks water along its path based on your hose bib volume measurement.
• Emitter built into a line allows a measured amount of water to pass through it for dripping at the number of gallons per hour.
• In my next blog I will try to list parts and certain drip or distribution hoses, which you need to buy. Remember, when you water a garden with a hose or sprinkler system, you are using gallons of water per minute.  The drip system uses gallons of water per hour.  Drip systems save water and are  convenient for gardeners.

How do I get started?  You start at your kitchen table after you take a few pictures with your camera or cell phone and print a draft photo printed on ordinary printer paper.  It worked well for me.  Instead of trying to design a watering system on graph paper, let your camera work for you.  Get a piece of clothesline or scrap wood that will show up in a photo and measure it.  Think how a 5’ or 10’ line or stick in your photo will give you an approximate scale for estimating length. Whether you stand back to get the whole side of your condo or home or are up closer for more detail, a 5-foot maker is 5-foot length in any photo you take.

Print your photos and get ready to work with them on your kitchen table.  Use a pencil or highlighter to draw a line where you would locate your hose or drip system.  Then you can do some arithmetic right on the photos. I do this for a starter and it works fine.

One closing comment.  Some parts are available in local hardware stores like Chatfield True Value in Southbury.  Other parts are not locally available and you have to search online to see whether national stores like Home Depot or Lowes carry them or you can buy online after you start an account from a company I like to use, http://www.sprinklersystemstore.com/c-67-drip-irrigation.aspx .The selections and price are excellent but you have to allow time and charges for delivery.

Lou Alongi

Photos Hobbyist and Gardener