bg, Perfectly fine. I use adjustable emitters. Just see what the system does and adjust. The plants need less when young(small root system) and more as they mature(large root system). You could actually put emitters on both side of the plant to get coverage faster. All depends on how long you run your irrigation. Trial and error is the best method. Aloha

My backyard has a new 5 valve sprinkler system on a timer. In areas where plants don't like being watered from above, or are big enough to block the sprinklers from covering, and near groupings of potted plants, I have retrofitted Orbit Quad manifold drip heads on top of the risers. I am switching back and forth between sprinklers and drip whenever it suits me. Consider installing sprinklers before planting and adapting it to your changing circumstances later. I am currently swapping in more thoughtfully distributed drip emitters in an effort to lower my water consumption in a mostly tropical garden, by putting the water exactly where I need it. I mostly use the flag emitters and have not yet had any problems with clogging. Last year I removed all the drip in the frontyard borders and re-installed sprinkler heads on the risers for better coverage after removing a lot of cannas. I am slowly switching to Australian and South African natives and will revert back to drip.

I'm going with the brown 1/4" drip tubing with the built in emmitters. My planting area is a little over 2' wide per bed, but I only have 3 drip lines per bed, and they get pretty well soaked. The big test will come when it gets hot and dry. I hope this works for me this year. It gets awful hot and dry here in Texas. Keep us posted on how your system works, and I'll do the same.

Yes, because you are maintaining a constant pressure. Think of it like you would for electric output: if you have 10 same wattage lightbulbs in a house the lights each put out the same light provided the amperage is adequate. For water the flow rate is similar to amps and pressure is the voltage. Total water use is like the wattage. In the left photo you are using a lot more water overall. I would do as Happy Hill Farm noted and use the standard 1 1/4" header line. You can then easily tap into it with control valves that adapt to each dripline. They cost about $2 each and will last many years. At the opposite end of each row just tie the dripline to a short stake leaving 8" beyond the knot. Then fold the driptape in half horizontally and then twice onto itself before sliding a cut 4" piece of driptape over the folded driptape. I run 220' lines frequently. The one problem with any slope in the line is that when you turn the water off the water in the driptape continues to flow downhill due to gravity and therefore the lower end always gets a little more water.