For over hundred years, landscape irrigation has been used as a means to increase productivity and quality of produce. Different irrigation systems are widely available in the market and are usually determined by the factors such as locality, climate availability of water and any local regulations regarding the usage of water. Whereas, the most common types of landscape irrigation are drip irrigation systems and sprinkler systems, each of which has number of variations.
In drip irrigation system, a drip tape or tube is buried under the soil surface and is perfect for row crops. The tape delivers the water at the right at the roots of the plant i.e. the point where it is needed the most. Hence, it results in the reducing the wastage of water due to deep percolation, runoff or water evaporation. A sub surface drip irrigation i.e. a drip tape buried sub-surface, is less vulnerable to damage caused by cultivation and weeding.
Sprinkler systems are one of the most popular landscape irrigation systems. Sprinkler systems are used to disperse water like rain drops on the field with the use of pipes and high pressure sprinklers or guns. By this method water is transported via pipes to more or more locations. At each such location, a high pressure sprinkler or gun delivers the water to the area around the sprinkler. Some of the mechanisms of sprinkler are static, while others travel the area to be irrigated, sprinkling as they go through the field.
Though sprinkler systems are undoubtedly famous, but drip line irrigation systems are also becoming popular inspite of being quite expensive to install. The reason behind it is that they tend to conserve water a lot more than a sprinkler. Also, drip line irrigation system do not overspray water on to the driveways or paths and lose less water because of misting or evaporation. The delivery of water is right at the roots, that is the point which needs most of the water. Hence, benefitting the plant as well as reducing the wastage.
While the advent of drip irrigation system has revolutionized the concept of water being a scare resource, still they are not accessible to everyone owing to the cost of traditional systems. In the cases where affordability is the issue, a low cost drip irrigation system might be the answer and can easily reduce the cost by 60-80 percent. These systems use cheaper micro tubing to reduce the cost. They can also be started on a small scale and additions can be made to it later.
Another irrigation technique popularly known as micro-irrigation technique conserves both water and fertilizer by delivering slow drips of water straight to the roots of the plants, either on the soil surface or directly to the root zone.
Always keep in mind that whatever system of landscape irrigation you choose, never forget to take the advice of professional landscape irrigation contractor, as they are aware of latest techniques of irrigation practices prevalent in the market. BlueRidge landscape and design is one such professional landscape company in this area.
