This guide is to help you review your options while trying to figure out what type of kit to use, their is the kits that use spray stakes, which is fine for flower beds that dont have rows. Then there is drip tape which is for rows like the vegetable garden.

If you are trying to use drip irrigation for a flower bed then spray stakes are the way to go, you have a supply line that runs near your flowers. You put holes in this supply line and stick tubing in the hole and the other end of tubing will go into the spray stakes. Whats nice about this is you cut the tubing to length so you can get to all flowers in the bed. Drip tape will not work in this application because you dont want to bend it around to reach all the flowers.

For the vegetable garden that has rows of plants it is just the opposite. This is where you want drip tape because they are rows. If you use spray stakes here you will have 50 pieces of tubing running through your garden, depending on how many plants you have. One piece of drip tape will do the whole row.

What to look for when buying drip tape kits. There are 2 that I have seen out there, one that is made with a poly pipe and one that is made with pvc pipe. Both work just fine. Its a matter of taste. I now when I put my garden in I not only wanted the irrigation but I wanted it to look good which why I used the pvc pipe, I think it looks better vs. poly pipe which is black and holes punched in it.

Future rotation of crops is easier with pvc. A good pvc system will give you plenty of hookups for your rows. For instance, if you plant radishes next to the turnips, your row dont need to be 3ft apart but your squash and tomatoes should. With hookups every 1 or so will allow you to put your radishes and turnips on the other end of the garden next year by using the end tubes that should be supplied. To do this with poly pipe you have to put new holes in it.

Look for kits that have different size drip tape included. Example, alot of kits only have 12" spacing where the water comes out. This is fine for the vegetables that are planted 12", 24" or 36" apart. What about your plants that are planted 2" apart. Thats where the different sizes come in. A 4" outlet spacing works just fine for these plants like radishes and turnips etc. A good kit will offer 4", 8" and 12" spacing.

A pvc drip tape kit is best for raised beds. You run the supply pvc line down the front of your beds and use tees and elbows to do each bed individually.

Either way you choose, sketch out how you want it to go to your garden. Anyone can do this.