Installing a Drip Irrigation System

So this weekend we didn't achieve very much in the way of gardening or renovating (but we did go camping, watch a couple of DVDs, and catch up with C's cousin, Lucia). By 4pm Monday afternoon (it was a long weekend) I was starting to feel a bit antsy about it. So I decided to try installing some drip irrigation piping in the courtyard garden. Turned out much easier than I had predicted.

The tap is on the right hand side of this photo (out of shot). And the garden is on the left hand side. So I had to work out a way to cross the divide elegantly. I thought about running it underneath the paving (but that would have meant lifting the pavers, laying the irrigation pipes, then re-laying the pavers - too much work!) or simply laying it around the perimeter, but that meant I would still have to lay it on the ground in front of the deck and it would have been visible and ugly. I noticed that the timber slats of the deck hung over the edge joists (is that what they're called?) by a couple of centimetres - just the right amount to hide the irrigation piping. Solution! I just had to convince C that nailing into the edge of the deck would be a good idea (he's a bit protective of the deck). Anyway, after my assurances that it would look fine, he agreed, and I laid the pipe and the connectors from the tap, along the base of the chimney, around the little corner, along the underside of the deck slats, and into the courtyard garden. Success!

Once I'd laid it all round, I turned on the tap, and sure enough, it worked! A few minutes later though the connectors started to spurt off because of the pressure of the water. So I put on those little collar thingys (whatever they're called) and they did the trick. So that's my no. 1 big tip when installing drip irrigation: Make sure you use those collar thingys on EVERY connector.

The piping is nicely camouflaged - can you see it in this photo?

Or this photo?

So I've had the dripper running now for a few hours! And I feel a bit weird about it. I follow the water restriction rules, but I'm not sure if there is a different set of rules for using drip irrigation - I hope there is because they are so much slower at watering than a hose/sprinker so I need more time to water the garden. I'm going to check the Melbourne Water website tomorrow.

If you've read through this post and are now reading this paragraph, I think you should leave a comment. You deserve it. You've done the hard yards. Leave me a comment. Go on, say a quick hello. Thanks! ;)