A properly watered garden is one step closer to being a healthy garden But due to high water costs and increasing water demands, gardeners need to be concerned about use of water, particularly potable water, in pursuit of their productive activities.
As the Guyana Water Inc. frequently reminds us : “Water is a precious resource: conserve it.”
One effective way to conserve water is by utilising drip irrigation .
Drip irrigation is a method which reduces the use of water by allowing it to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of in most cases PVC pipes.
It can be said that drip lines have a higher initial cost for equipment and take time to set up, but once they are laid out, they represent the most efficient use of water for gardening .

A drip irrigation system delivers water directly to the root zone of a plant, where it seeps slowly into the soil one drop at a time.
Almost no water is lost through surface runoff or evaporation, and soil particles have plenty of opportunity to absorb and hold water for plants.
It also means very few nutrients leach down beyond the reach of plant roots.
Furthermore, since drip irrigation delivers water directly to the plants you want to grow, less is wasted on weeds.
Weed growth is reduced because areas between plants are not irrigated.
For busy gardeners, the main benefit of drip irrigation is the savings of both time and effort.
Drip systems eliminate the need to drag around hoses and walk around with spray cans.
Plants watered with drip systems grow more quickly and are more productive, because they have all the water they need and their growth isn’t slowed by water stress.
Its low flow rate allows irrigation of larger areas and more plants can be watered at once.
Also, plants watered by drip irrigation don’t end up with wet foliage from a sprinkler spray, and that can help prevent some foliage diseases such as powdery mildew.

Of course it goes without saying that installing and using the drip irrigation system can greatly add to the enjoyment and satisfaction of raising gardens for horticulture or vegetables and the satisfaction of higher production.
These and other benefits are only possible to the user when a drip irrigation system is properly designed, managed and maintained.

(To be continued)

(By Clifford Stanley)