How to plan drip irrigation - Layout & zones?

[tanveersattar]

Hello All, 

I need help to plan drip irrigation in my backyard. I have planting beds along three sides of the backyard, with a mix of fruit trees, lilly pillies, small veggie beds some flowers/shrubs. Also on the side of the house there is also a planting area with daisies and other smalls flowering shrubs as shown in the image below.

The bed on the south side has three fruit trees and three small round veggie patches and it is 7 meters long.

The bed on the west side has 8 lilly pillies and some flowers (daisies and abela) under-planted. It is 14 meters long. 

The bed on the north side has some citrus plants and an orange jasmine at the end. It is 10 meters long. 

The area, next to the house, on eastern side has some daisies and other small shrubs/grasses. It is 14 meters long. 

A recycled water tap is also on this eastern wall (as shown below). 

I may also need to run two lines to the side areas of the house where we have some photinias in the large pots. If i extend irrigation to the north side and south sides of the house this will add another 10 meter on each side.  

So total length of polytube in the backyard is 45 meters. And if i add two side paths it will be 20 meters more. 

My questions are below:

Q1: If I have to run the main line from tap to cover all these areas around, should I use 19mm or 25 mm polytube?

Q2: As the plants water requirements are different (trees may need water less frequently than the veggies or shrubs/flowers) should I run two separate main lines of 19mm OR 25mm so that I can set frequency separately? OR there should be another way to meet different water requirements? 

Q3: If two main lines are to be used, does that mean two zones and thus water controller with two zones?

Q4: What drippers/emitters should I use? I am thinking of using dripline for all the trees while drippers on the flowers/shrubs. Please suggest what will serve the needs betters. Also will I need any in-line valves to control flow anywhere in this layout?

Q5: Is it recommended to use the pressure reducer on the tap? And also to use back-flow prevention valve to prevent soiled water going back to mains?

Q6: I am planning to use the recycled water for irrigation, I read that it is safe to use for all plants including veggies. Please share if there should be any concerns regarding its use?

I really appreciate help and tips for all experiences gardeners out there. Thanks so much. 

[Jason]

Great work @tanveersattar. It's very satisfying getting an automated watering system up and running. It will save you plenty of time in the long run - and keep your garden looking great!

We appreciate you sharing the end results with plenty of detail so others can replicate your handiwork. 

Let us know if you need any further assistance, and we are looking forward to seeing what you tackle next around the house or garden.

Jason

[J-P]

Finally got a chance to read this completely and imagine myself in that situation and visualising it. 

I am curious to see how the water pressure is working out? I wasn’t successfully with more than 15 K-rain tricklers. So decided to break it into two lines. Vortex spray also worked betttwe than tricklers in wetting the area.

wouldn’t the dropper needed to run longer time than tricklers?

[EricL]

Hi @J-P 

Let me tag @tanveersattar to make them aware of your question. In regards to the drippers and tricklers you could use the Pope Veri-Flow Threaded Trickler Dripper with variable flow rate. This will allow you to control the amount of water coming out.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[tanveersattar]

Hi @J-P 

I think I am at capacity with the water pressure (with these many tricklers). I have two zones; zone 1 for shrubs/vegies etc. and zone 2 for trees. On this zone 1, not all tricklers are adjusted at full capacity, some are in smaller pots or near small plants so I put them on lower rate. This way so far it seems working fine. Not sure if I need to use a pressure regulator which has more than 180kpa outlet pressure (the one that I have now) if I need to run all of them at full capacity. vortex spray worked better to soak larger area but it requires more pressure to use it to its effectiveness. 

[J-P]

@tanveersattar - I used drip then switched to trickler and then to vortex and finally with jet spray to keep wifey happy. She wants to see the entire veggie bed soaked like it would when gig water with a hose.

But once it is all set it is very easy to control them and have good watering. You feel like you are ready to buy a farm now and start taking care of it 😀.

[robchin]

Interesting - we must keep our partners happy. BUT be prepared for the extra weeds that come with that  

[tanveersattar]

@J-P do you need to have enough pressure to use jet spray? I don't know with the areas I wanted to cover and length of the pipe it will work for me. 

But as @robchin said, keeping partners happy is priority

[J-P]

@tanveersattar @robchin 

I have used 180 Deg jet spray and about 13 of them straight on poly (poly pipe held the back of garden bed capping by twist wire nailed to capping. I am using rain water pump (think it has more pressure than tap) and I can still put another 7 to make it 20 and still be ok to soak the entire bed. The bed is 50cm wide and runs along the perimeter of house

[tanveersattar]

Thanks @J-P if you have product link from Bunnings website please share. 

[J-P]

@tanveersattar - here it is

https://www.bunnings.com.au/k-rain-4mm-single-piece-jet-180-10-pack_p0131055