How to Install a Drip Irrigation System

Start right at the outdoor faucet. Thread the backflow adapter onto the spigot, then screw the hose timer onto that. Hand-tighten each connection so it is snug and does not drip. The timer is the brain of the system, so give it a solid, straight connection at the faucet before you add anything below it.

Drip tubing runs at low pressure, so household water will blow it apart without a regulator. Screw the 10 PSI pressure regulator onto the bottom of the timer, then add the inline filter. The filter catches grit and sediment before it reaches the tiny emitter openings and clogs them. Snug both down by hand.

Now join the 1/2-inch mainline tubing to the bottom of the filter with a swivel adapter fitting. This is the tube that carries water from the faucet out to the garden. Push it firmly onto the barbed fitting so it seats fully. Give it a tug to make sure it will not pop off once the water is running.

Roll the mainline out from the spigot toward the raised beds. Run it along the house foundation and any edging or gravel paths so it stays tucked out of the way and out of the mower's path. Bring it right up to the first bed. Leave a little slack so you are not fighting the tubing when you make connections.

Run the drip lines down the length of each raised bed. Space them evenly across the soil so every planting row sits within reach of water. For most beds, two or three parallel lines cover the whole surface. Lay them out first and eyeball the spacing before you commit to any connections.

Where each bed meets the mainline, punch a hole and insert a barbed valve fitting, then push the drip line onto it. The green shut-off valves are worth the extra couple of dollars. They let you turn one bed off while the rest keep watering, which is handy when a bed is empty or resting between seasons.

Work your way across the manifold, connecting the last emitter lines into the bed. Push each tube fully onto its barbed connector so it holds under pressure. Then cap or fold-and-clamp the open ends of every run. Sealed ends are what build the pressure that pushes water evenly out of every emitter down the line.

Turn the water on and let it flush through for a minute to clear any debris. Walk each bed and check that every line is dripping and nothing is spraying from a loose fitting. Fix any leaks, then program the timer for your watering schedule. From here the system waters right at the soil, so your beds stay evenly moist with no hand watering.