Drip Irrigation

After finishing our backyard makeover #2 project, I wanted to add some type of automatic watering system for our plants. We’ve never had any sprinkler lines in our backyard so I’ve always had to hand water everything.

I researched adding sprinkler lines and drip lines. Ultimately, we decided on a drip line system since they seemed easier and no need to dig up the yard. We purchased Raindrip drip irrigation stuff from Lowes.

We connected the main water tubing to our outdoor water faucet (with a timer) and ran the tubing across the yard from the faucet to the fence. We held down the tube with yard staples and covered it with mulch:

The hose runs along our fence (where all our plants are). We had to buy extra hose to extend it to be long enough. The end of the line:

We then connected half-circle bubblers that came with tubing and connectors (which made it really easy) and connected them from the main water hose to each plant:

I used little rocks from our front yard to hide the tubing (I still need more rocks):

We also added half-circle sprayers in our garden box that connected to a different faucet:

The project was much easier than we thought it would be. So eventually we started swapping out our front yard sprinklers too. We have sprinkler lines there so it was a little different but still simple enough.

I’ve always hated our tall sprinklers. They are a tripping hazard and they waste a lot of water. The old sprinklers:

After removing the old sprinkler, Mike added pipe risers/extensions for connecting to an irrigation manifold:

Adding the irrigation manifold:

I also wanted to replace our little rocks with mulch so it was perfect timing to complete both projects at once. I removed all the rocks to make it easier to put down the drip lines. We connected tubing to the manifold and ran the lines to each plant. We used yard staples (about every 6 inches) to hold down the tubing:

The new irrigation manifold:

I also added a new plant – Mexican Bush Sage (my new favorite). The finished flower bed:

The only issue I’ve noticed is sometimes the drip lines can become disconnected from the sprayer. So I check them every month or so when they are running to make sure they are working properly. But overall, this was one of my favorite projects we completed. A lot of impact for not a lot of money.