We seem to be going into a drought, so here's an easy way to keep your gardens watered using a simple DIY irrigation system (in case you haven't already figured out how to do it).

The parts are dirt cheap. Lowes sells the Mister Landscaper micro-irrigation system, which is what we used. They have complete kits, but it's pretty easy to plan out what you need and just get the individual parts.

The following photos show some details of a basic setup along with some notes...

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One tip is to use a 1/2" line for the main feed and 1/4" lines coming off that for the sprinklers. I had previously used 1/4" lines for everything, but it couldn't get enough pressure to the vegetable garden which is farther away from the faucet than the patio herb garden.

The first thing you'll want is a splitter valve for your garden hose and your irrigation line so you can run them independently. Also note the special coupler for the 1/2" feed line.

You may also need a 1/2" "T" fitting if your are running two lines.

Use these crimpers to terminate the far end of your 1/2" line(s). Note: They also have some plugs/caps that fit into the end of the 1/2" line but they didn't work very well. Water pressure kept popping them off the end of the line. The crimpers work great.

To connect the 1/4" line to the main 1/2" feed line, punch a hole in the 1/2" line and use a special 1/4" inline fitting that inserts into the hole and into the end of the 1/4" line. Note: the 1/2" line is hard plastic and they sell a tool to punch it. It's a little overpriced but worth the money for convenience.

You may also want an inline valve for the 1/4" line. I use this one so I can turn off the herb sprinklers and just water the garden. They don't seem to make valves for the 1/2" lines.

The sprinklers come in two parts, a stake/support with a 1/4" line and valve plus a sprinkler head that inserts into the end of the 1/4" line. There are several types of sprinkler heads for drip, mist, or full/half circle spray. I just used the circle sprays and adjusted them. I found that you can put one circle spray at the edge of a pot and it will water another pot sitting next to it. It might be more efficient to have one drip/mist head per pot.

To connect the sprinkler assembly, cut the 1/4" line in two with scissors and use a 1/4" "T" fitting to attach the 1/4" sprinkler feed in-line.

You can connect several sprinklers to one 1/4" line this way. I have up to 4 on a single line and the pressure seems fine. You could probably make it neater and get more even distribution by using a single 1/4" line per sprinkler.

Once you get it all set up, use the valves on the sprinkler assemblies to balance everything out.

NOTE: Get some "goof plugs" to plug up any mistakes or holes in the 1/2" line that are no longer used. To fix leaks in the 1/4" lines, just cut out the section with the leak and splice it back together with an inline coupler fitting. So get a few of those, too. In general, figure out all the parts you think you need and buy a few extras for spares.