What is Drip Irrigation and Its Advantages?

You may have heard the phrase “drip irrigation” thrown around and not been able to make heads or tails out of it. Fortunately, drip irrigation isn’t that complicated a concept to really understand.

What is Drip Irrigation? 

Irrigation is simply the process of artificially applying water to land or soil in order to stimulate growth. Farmers and property owners around the country rely on irrigation to create fuller crops or more appealing lawns.

Drip irrigation, also referred to as trickle irrigation, is a method of irrigation that’s extremely environmentally friendly. This is because drip irrigation applies water directly to the plant’s roots, root zone or the soil itself.

The fact that drip irrigation sends water directly to the surface that needs it most with a plastic device known as an emitter is especially relevant today. Parts of California, Texas and the Southwestern United States are experiencing their worst droughts in years, so a more intelligent irrigation system is a must.

Drip irrigation actually uses tubes and hoses to efficiently send water to a plastic emitter, which in turn sends water directly onto the plant’s roots or soil’s surface. This whole process saves a ton of water and fertilizing material.

More Advantages of Drip Irrigation 

Even for farmers or property owners who like using fertilizer, drip irrigation allows you to retain nutrients while using less fertilizer – all the while achieving even better results!

Drip irrigation also allows you to keep the moisture level constant between the root zone and field capacity. And just to clarify, the term “field capacity” is simply the amount of moisture in the soil after the excess water has drained away.

Here’s some more good news for anyone who wants to try out drip irrigation – drip irrigation ensures less soil erosion and fewer weeds grow on your property. For farmers, this is a huge boon and directly increases their crop yield and profits. For regular property owners, this leaves your lawn looking crisp, green and lush.

For those concerned about rising energy prices, you’re bound to like drip irrigation as well. The process of drip irrigation is extremely water efficient and operates under less pressurization than most other types of pressurized irrigation, which translates to money saved on utility bills.

Because of drip irrigation’s higher efficiency, you’re also talking about smaller labor costs compared to other forms of irrigation.

Control in Your Hands 

Due to the fact that controllable amounts of water make their way to the soil’s surface or the roots of plants, drip irrigation puts far more control into your hands.

You can regulate the amount of water that gets sent to each individual plant or section of your property by regulating the water pressure going to each output nozzle.

Drip irrigation is saving you water all the while as well since drip irrigation is estimated to use less than half the water of conventional sprinkler systems. So, you’re using less water and experiencing less nutrient runoff and soil erosion: This is definitely a recipe for long-term success.

Drip irrigation can even be set to a timer so that you can fully automate the watering process or cut it on/off at your discretion throughout the day. A drip irrigation system is highly adaptable and can be changed literally overnight to better suit the changes taking place on your property.

You can find out more about drip irrigation or set up an appointment by getting in touch with a Xeriscape lawn care professional today.

Tagged: Drip irrigation, gardening, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, sprinkler system