Watering my garden is one of the most enjoyable activities gardening offers when I have time for it. It’s great to walk through the garden and see how everything is doing, but it can be time-consuming and a hassle after a long day. In this post, I will give you some tips and tricks to help you regain some of your time and make watering less of a chore.
There are a few main systems for watering a home garden.
- Hand watering
- Drip system
- Soaker hose
- Sprinkler system
Hand Watering
My personal favorite, but the most time-consuming, is hand watering. Hand watering your garden, especially when it is quite large, can become a chore that increases as the weather warms up. However, hand watering has several benefits that the other systems can’t compete with. Hand watering puts you in the garden, allowing you to observe it more. Looking for pests or diseases while you water helps prevent an outbreak. It is much more efficient because you are watering each individual plant directly. I like to hand water as much as I can, but after a long day at work, it becomes another chore.
- Time-consuming
- Water efficient
- Spending more time in the garden
Drip system
I have had several drip systems, and my personal experience has not been great. This may be because I bought consumer-grade systems because I do not want to spend commercial prices for a few raised beds. The two main problems I have faced are the system disconnecting and clogging. Hoses used for drip systems are usually much smaller. The hose connects to a splitter, leading to the smaller hose lines and eventually to the small emitter. Any of these connections with the smaller hose will likely fail, popping out as soon as you turn the water on. The smaller hose and emitters are also more likely to get clogged, even with a screen between the hose and drip system.
- Clogging
- Weak connections
- May work well for a small potted garden
Soaker hose
Like the drip system, the soaker hose connects directly to the hose. However, the size and connections of the soaker hose are much more reliable than the drip system. I have used soaker hoses for trees and raised beds and have had fewer problems than drip systems. I consider soaker hoses to be the best alternative to hand watering. They are easy to install and even easier to maintain. They work well for areas of different sizes and do a great job applying water directly to the soil surface. I was able to discount both my soaker hoses and leave them in the beds over winter; they worked just fine the following year. If you have a few trees or a garden space that you don’t want to water, I recommend setting up a soaker hose on a timer. You will be set for the summer.
- Reliable
- Easy to winterize.
- Gets the water directly to the soil
Sprinkler system
I started with sprinklers when I first looked for a convenient way to water my garden. They do work well but usually need more time to water a specific area. Even when adjusting it to a specific area, most of the water hits the plants head-on and takes a bit to get to the soil surface. This usually wastes quite a bit of water, but for the cost and simplicity of the system, it’s hard to beat when you are just starting.
- Easy to use and setup.
- Wastes quite a bit of water.
- Gets the whole plant wet not just the soil
Overall, this is my experience with the different watering systems for small gardens. I am quite biased because when I set something up to save time, I don’t want to waste time fiddling with it on a consistent basis. A watering system that didn’t work for me may work for you; each garden is different. Choose what works best for you in your situation.
Green Garden Nursery 