How to Install Drip Irrigation

By: Alexandra Bandon, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. 1/2-INCH DRIP TUBING
comes in 50-, 75- 100-, or 500-foot rolls, either with or without factory-installed emitters. Calculate the square footage of the area you want to irrigate, then figure on one foot of tubing per square foot of plant bed.

2. 1/4-INCH DRIP TUBING
use this smaller tubing to branch off from the main line and reach specific bushes, trees, or containers.

3. TUBING CONNECTORS
elbow, tee, and straight connectors allow you to turn the tubing without kinking it, or add on more lengths of tubing.

4. WATER SOURCE CONNECTION KIT
for attaching the tubing to an outdoor faucet. Kit should include a vacuum breaker, pressure regulator, a filter, and a connector for attaching the tubing.
5. SPRAY AND DRIP ACCESSORIES
including micro sprayers, small emitters, and foggers for reaching different plants around the garden.

6. BARK MULCH

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Tubing Cutter,
  bypass pruner or scissors would suffice, but the thick tubing can dull the blades, making them less effective in the garden
- Hole Punch,
  comes with tubing
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Photo: Shelly Strazis

4. Lay tubing around shrubs and trees

Position loops of ¼-inch tubing around the trees and shrubs.

Use a hole punch to pierce the ½-inch tubing where the loop will begin. Insert a small tee connector into the hole.

Attach one end of ¼-inch tubing with emitters to one side of the tee. Now make a lasso shape around the trunk of the tree. The loop should be big enough to extend halfway out to the edge of the tree's canopy.

Cut the tubing and attach the end to the other side of the tee.