Irrigation up a slope

[Bamboozled]

Hi, I could use some help figuring out the best way to run irrigation in my backyard. There are many challenges, so maybe I'll start with a basic diagram:

This is all on a slope- about 30 degrees. It's not a straight shot from the hose bibb to the backyard per the diagram, there are twists and turns to get back there. For various reasons it's not feasible at the moment to run a new water line closer to the back of the house, so I'm mostly just looking for a way to get through until next year without killing the trees and plants (green circles) in the backyard. The trees are fairly young, planted/transplanted in the past 6 months, obtained mostly for free from neighbors and city/county programs, and are doing well.

The budget is tight, so I'm trying to avoid mistakes. I've seen adapters that connect garden hose to PVC, and PVC to 1/2" irrigation tubing. Would something like this possibly work?

Thanks so much for any feedback on this.

 

[Chuck]

Just get another length of hose and add it to the existing hose. At the end of the new hose screw on a doubler or tripler and attach your PCV or irrigation tubing to this and your all set. Cost of the hose plus less than 10$ and your all set.

 

[Bamboozled]

Just get another length of hose and add it to the existing hose. At the end of the new hose screw on a doubler or tripler and attach your PCV or irrigation tubing to this and your all set. Cost of the hose plus less than 10$ and your all set.

Hey thanks Chuck, yeah that would make it easier. For the downhill run after the new hose, do you think there's any benefit to using 3/4" PVC and branching off horizontally with 1/2" irrigation tubing, or would using just 1/2" tubing do the trick?

 

[Chuck]

Hey thanks Chuck, yeah that would make it easier. For the downhill run after the new hose, do you think there's any benefit to using 3/4" PVC and branching off horizontally with 1/2" irrigation tubing, or would using just 1/2" tubing do the trick?

I don't see any benefit in using 3/4. I ran 1/2 to the garden and then used 1/4" tubing for my drip system. One of the objects of using a drip system is SLOW DEEP watering and with larger tubing the bigger size is redundant, you don't need it.

 

[Bamboozled]

I don't see any benefit in using 3/4. I ran 1/2 to the garden and then used 1/4" tubing for my drip system. One of the objects of using a drip system is SLOW DEEP watering and with larger tubing the bigger size is redundant, you don't need it.

Sounds great, I'll give it a shot this weekend with 1/2" and 1/4", I really appreciate your help- Cheers!

 

[oneeye]

You can't use drip irrigation on a slope because it will run off every time and waste money. You have to use fine mist sprayers on top and middle. Soaker or drip irrigation must be on level ground or you will waste a lot of water. I never recommend soakers on a slope because of the high failure rate.

 

[Chuck]

You can't use drip irrigation on a slope because it will run off every time and waste money. You have to use fine mist sprayers on top and middle. Soaker or drip irrigation must be on level ground or you will waste a lot of water. I never recommend soakers on a slope because of the high failure rate.

Sure you can. You can shut the water off at any or all portions of a garden using a drip system and the bottom end is always plugged. People irrigate on hill sides everywhere. I don't like soaker hoses either, anywhere. They work great for a time and then plug up with calcium if you have hard water. Years ago vinegar was cheap, but not anymore, and soaking a soaker hose in vinegar is the only way I know of to remove the calcium.

 

[Bamboozled]

Good advice on soaker hoses, thanks. So far so good with 5 emitters installed for a test run, it sure is easy and inexpensive to run tubing.

 

[Chuck]

Good advice on soaker hoses, thanks. So far so good with 5 emitters installed for a test run, it sure is easy and inexpensive to run tubing.

View attachment 96973

What size are your emmiters, 1/2 gph?

 

[Bamboozled]

2 gph. Sub-optimal?

 

[Chuck]

2 gph. Sub-optimal?

It all depends on your soil. 2 gph is quite a bit of water and if left on for any length of time is there any runoff? You don't want ANY runoff, you want SLOOOW DEEP watering. I use 1/2 gph but my soil is loamy and all of the water just goes straight down. I leave mine on for about 3 hours around the base of a plant and the soil is saturated in a 2 foot diameter circle. After watering I don't need to water again for 7-10 days normally. I don't have a timer and sometimes I get busy doing something and forget I have it on. If I used a 2 gph emmiter I would be wasting a lot of water

 

[Bamboozled]

Interesting, thanks. Up to now I've been watering about a gallon all at once every few days with no visible runoff. I was also thinking that I'd only run it for about 30 minutes each time, but since the water seems to go straight down similar to your situation maybe it's better to go with 1/2 gph.

 

[Chuck]

Interesting, thanks. Up to now I've been watering about a gallon all at once every few days with no visible runoff. I was also thinking that I'd only run it for about 30 minutes each time, but since the water seems to go straight down similar to your situation maybe it's better to go with 1/2 gph.

And it depends on the plant too. I see in the picture you are watering a tree. A trees feeder roots extend out to the drip line of the tree and a 2 gph emmiter will efficiently water a PORTION of the trees roots in an hours time. If you had four 1/2 gph emmiters you could water all of the roots with the same amount of water in the same time period. Any plant with a large root zone such as a tomato plant will need two emitters to ensure complete coverage.

 

[Bamboozled]

This is really helpful, never considered the root spread. I've got mostly small, youngish trees so using multiple 1/2 gph emitters per tree sounds better than a single 2 gph. Easy enough to make the switch now since I only bought a small pack of the 2 gph for the test run. Thanks Chuck.

 

[Chuck]

This is really helpful, never considered the root spread. I've got mostly small, youngish trees so using multiple 1/2 gph emitters per tree sounds better than a single 2 gph. Easy enough to make the switch now since I only bought a small pack of the 2 gph for the test run. Thanks Chuck.

And as the tree grows all you have to do is add a little more tubing and emitters.