The truth is you are the most water-efficient system, a theory evidenced by the fact that homeowners who water by hand almost always tend to use the least quantities of water in their gardens and yards. However, the most significant drawback when it comes to watering by hand is the fact that most people rarely find themselves available whenever the plants need watering, which often leads to dead or unhealthy plants and unhappy homeowners.
Fortunately, choosing the right type of irrigation for your particular yard provides an excellent solution, especially since the only other viable alternative is designing your garden to include the most drought-tolerant plants exclusively, those that require no more than once a week watering sessions even during the dry summer months.
To provide yourself with the convenience of an in-ground irrigation system, it is, therefore, important that you acquire adequate knowledge on the different types of systems currently available, particularly since some are more water-efficient compared to others. Listed below are three main types of water-efficient systems recommended by experts for installation in areas such as Ann Arbor MI.
Bubblers
This system is a form of precise watering techniques capable of delivering water deep into the soil, which means it is quite useful around deep-rooted plants such as trees. Bubblers are additionally effective for use in specific planter containers where traditional sprinklers cannot work. This type of irrigation is quite durable, minimizes overspray and evaporation, requires minimal maintenance and filtration, and features an easily adjustable flow rate.
Drip Irrigation
This is a slow, direct, and precise system of watering, especially since this system avails 100% of the water to the plants. In comparison to traditional spray heads which only release up to about five gallons per minute, drip irrigation systems release significantly higher amounts of water every hour. The water-saving and environmental benefits offered by drip irrigation include minimized evaporation, runoff, and overspray.
This type of irrigation is often preferable where considerably few plants spread over large areas such as a few bushes with lots of open space in-between, or hard-to-water areas like narrow planters. The installation of a drip system mandatorily includes a special filter to prevent the system from clogging and a device for lowering the water pressure.
Stream Rotor Pop-ups
This system replaces the traditional pop-up spray heads, which means installation is by unscrewing of the old nozzle top from the pop-up and screwing on the stream rotor in its place. Stream rotors are relatively water efficient when compared to traditional spray heads since they release approximately 25 percent of the amount of water traditional spray heads do per minute, which reduces runoff and evaporation. Stream rotors are ideal for use where a lot of short-rooted plants need watering such as groundcovers and bunchgrasses.