Skip to content In a climate with around fourteen inches of rain annually, how you water impacts plant health and water conservation. A drip irrigation system delivers water directly at the base, promoting healthier plants and efficient resource use.
Since 2019, our licensed and insured team has designed and installed systems across Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico, tailoring each drip irrigation system to suit xeriscapes, mature trees, or native gardens. Our services include new installs, retrofits, repairs, and seasonal adjustments, ensuring your landscape receives the right amount of water efficiently and reliably.
Free on-site consultation & written estimate, with a clear timeline and process customized to your landscape.
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Based at 105 Cienega St in downtown Santa Fe, we understand local conditions like hard water and cold winters. Proper design and seasonal service ensure your system remains reliable and effective year-round.
A drip irrigation system is the right answer here for a simple reason: sprinklers were designed for lawns. Most Santa Fe landscapes are not lawns; they are trees, shrubs, natives, and beds with bare ground or gravel between plants, and spraying water across all of that wastes most of it.
Drip delivers water directly to the root zone at a low rate, so it soaks in rather than running off our tight caliche soils. That means less evaporation, less wind drift, and far less water landing where nothing is growing.
A drip system is more than tubing. Every drip irrigation installation we build includes each of these. Most systems we are called to repair have failed because someone skipped a component.
Our water carries minerals and fine grit, both of which plug emitter outlets. A properly sized filter at the head of the system is the difference between a drip irrigation system that runs for years and one that clogs in a season.
The device that keeps irrigation water from being drawn back into your drinking water supply. It is a code requirement, not an upgrade, and we install and protect it properly.
Drip runs at much lower pressure than household supply. Without a regulator, fittings blow apart, and emitters discharge far more than their rating.
Each watering zone gets its own valve, housed in an accessible box so service does not mean digging. Zoning is where most of the efficiency actually comes from.
Half-inch poly tubing carries water through the beds, routed to stay protected under mulch or gravel rather than baking in the sun.
Point-source drip emitters for individual trees and shrubs, inline dripline for hedges, mass plantings, and beds. We size flow rates to each plant rather than running everything at one output.
A timer that waters by season rather than by habit. Smart controllers can adjust automatically based on weather data, which matters most in a climate that swings from May drought to August monsoon.
End caps and flush valves at the ends of runs so you can clear the lines of sediment during routine drip irrigation maintenance.
For rural properties, hardscaping and fencing do much more than improve appearance. They help define the property, protect landscaping, manage animals, and create outdoor areas that are easier to enjoy.
Different plants want different amounts of water on different schedules, which is exactly why zoning comes before hardware in any drip irrigation system design.
The most common problem we find in an existing drip irrigation system is not a broken part. It is a thirsty plant and a drought-tolerant plant sharing a valve. One of them is always being watered wrong.
Good design starts by grouping plants with similar water needs onto the same zone so that each group can run on its own schedule and duration. Trees get long, infrequent cycles that push water deep. Perennials and vegetables get shorter, more frequent ones. Established natives may need almost nothing outside of a dry spring.
Sun exposure, slope, and soil also change the picture. A south-facing bed against a stucco wall dries out far faster than a shaded courtyard twenty feet away, and water applied to a slope needs a lower rate and a longer run to soak in rather than migrate downhill.
We also plan for growth. A system built around five-gallon shrubs will be wrong in four years unless the emitter layout can be adjusted, so we design the zones and the tubing with room to add, move, and re-rate emitters as the landscape fills in.
Our drip irrigation installation process is the same for a single courtyard zone and a full-property system.
We walk the property, review what is planted and what is planned, check the water source, and test static pressure and flow so the design is based on what your supply can deliver.
We group plants into zones, size the tubing and emitters, and lay out valve locations. Then we provide a clear, itemized estimate so you understand the drip irrigation installation cost before any work begins.
We connect to the water source, install or verify backflow prevention, and build the valve manifold in an accessible box.
We install the filter and regulator at the head of the system, sized to each zone’s flow needs.
We route the mainline through the beds, place drip emitters at the right distance from each plant, and secure the lines so they stay put and stay covered.
We mount and program the controller with a seasonal schedule, then show you how to adjust it rather than leaving you with a manual.
We flush the lines, pressurize the system, check every emitter, and walk each zone with you so you know what runs when and where the shutoffs are.
Drip is low pressure and low drama, which is exactly why people install it carelessly. These details decide whether a system lasts two seasons or fifteen.
Our water is hard, and mineral scale plus fine grit is the leading cause of plugged emitters here. A filter at the head and a regulator sized to the zone are not optional, and skipping them is the most common shortcut we find on failed systems.
UV exposure at this elevation is punishing, and uncovered poly tubing goes brittle and splits. We route lines under gravel or mulch wherever the design allows, which also hides them and protects them from foot traffic.
Spaghetti line is quick to install and the first thing to kink, chew through, or pull loose. We use it sparingly and keep runs short, favoring half-inch line with emitters placed directly in it.
Elevation change and distance both affect output. Pressure-compensating drip emitters deliver the same flow at the top of a run as at the bottom, so the last plant on the line gets what the first one does.
Packrats, rabbits, and ground squirrels chew irrigation lines, especially in a dry spell when it is the only moisture around. Burying lines, keeping them covered, and avoiding exposed micro tubing all reduce the damage.
A system that cannot be drained will eventually split. We install the system so drip irrigation winterization is straightforward: accessible shutoffs, drain points, and a protected backflow assembly.
Sediment collects at the end of every run. Flush valves or removable end caps let you clear lines annually instead of replacing them.
Zones are labeled at the manifold and the controller. When someone services the system in five years, they should not have to guess.
If your yard was built around spray heads and then planted with shrubs, trees, or natives, the irrigation no longer matches the landscape. In most cases, we can convert sprinklers to drip using the existing valves and buried mainline, which keeps the cost well below a full rebuild.
A conversion usually means capping the heads that are no longer needed, adapting one or more heads into drip zones with the right filter and regulator, and laying out tubing and emitters for the plants that are actually there now. Zones sometimes have to be re-split along the way, because plants that shared a lawn schedule rarely share a drip schedule.
The result is a landscape watered on purpose instead of by inheritance, and it is usually where the biggest water savings on a property come from.
Drip systems are reliable, not invisible. Emitters plug, tubing gets chewed, and a zone can run for weeks before anyone notices a plant is dying.
Our drip irrigation services include spring startup and fall shutdown, so seasonal work does not land on your calendar. When something does fail, drip irrigation repair is usually quick: a split line, a chewed section, a plugged emitter, a stuck valve, or a controller that lost its program. We also take on drip irrigation repair work on systems we did not install, which often starts with mapping what is actually buried out there.
Every property is different, so we price from a site visit rather than a phone call. Your drip irrigation installation cost depends mostly on how many zones you need and how much of the system already exists.
An under-built system is the expensive one, because the repair bill and the replacement plants both land later. We break the estimate into line items so you can see exactly what the irrigation system installation includes.
For homeowners comparing drip irrigation services, the question is whether the system is designed around the landscape or just run to it. Ours start with the plants.
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We provide drip irrigation services from our shop at 105 Cienega St in downtown Santa Fe, and we work across the region, including Eldorado, Tesuque, White Rock, Española, Galisteo, Pecos, Pojoaque, Seton Village, Lamy, Los Cerrillos, and more than eighteen Northern New Mexico communities. If you are nearby and do not see your town listed, call us anyway: we very likely serve your area.
If you do not see your town on our map, reach out. As we often serve many individuals from outside this area!
Irrigation is one piece of a working landscape. Explore our related work: French drains and drainage to move water away from the house, xeriscaping and desert landscaping to reduce how much water the yard needs in the first place, and retaining walls and stone walkways to shape the grade the water moves across.
Move water away from the house and out of the low spots.
Desert landscaping that reduces how much water the yard needs.
Hold a grade change in place and shape how water moves.
Paths and paving designed to shed water where you want it.
Drip irrigation delivers water slowly and directly to the base of each plant through tubing and emitters, rather than spraying it across an area. Because the water is applied at a low rate right at the root zone, far more of it reaches the plant instead of evaporating, drifting on the wind, or running off.
Savings depend on what you are replacing and how the system is scheduled, but applying water at the root zone removes most of the evaporation, wind drift, and overspray that overhead systems lose. Correct zoning and a seasonal schedule usually matter as much as the hardware.
In most cases, yes. We can often reuse the existing valves and buried mainline, cap the heads that are no longer needed, and adapt the zones with proper filtration and pressure regulation. Zones sometimes need re-splitting, because plants that shared a lawn schedule rarely share a drip schedule.
Longer and less often than most people expect. Drip applies water slowly, so run times range from tens of minutes to hours, depending on emitter output, soil, and the plants in that zone. We program a seasonal schedule and show you how to adjust it.
Drip irrigation for trees works best out at the edge of the canopy, not against the trunk, because that is where the feeder roots are. As the tree grows, the emitters need to move outward and usually increase in number.
Yes, and it is one of the best uses for it. Inline dripline on close spacing keeps the root zone evenly moist and keeps foliage dry, which reduces disease pressure.
Yes, they can, which is why filtration matters. Our water carries minerals and fine grit, so a properly sized filter at the head of the system, annual line flushing, and periodic emitter checks are what keep a system running.
Yes. Water left in lines, valves, or a backflow assembly can freeze and split them. Shutting off supply, draining or blowing out the system, and protecting above-ground components are all part of fall service.
It should be covered. We route lines under gravel or mulch to protect them from UV, foot traffic, and animals, which also keeps them out of sight.
It happens here, especially during dry spells when the tubing is the only moisture around. Covering lines, minimizing exposed quarter-inch tubing, and promptly repairing chewed sections all help.
With filtration, pressure regulation, covered tubing, and annual service, the buried parts of a drip irrigation system can last many years. Emitters and exposed fittings are consumables and get replaced as part of normal maintenance.
Yes. That work often begins with locating and mapping what is already in the ground, then testing zone by zone to find leaks, plugged emitters, failed valves, or controller problems.
Yes. Protecting the drinking water supply from irrigation water is a code requirement, not an upgrade. We install and protect the assembly as part of the system.
Yes, especially while they establish. Natives typically need regular water for the first year or two, then much less. Putting them on their own zone lets you reduce their schedule without affecting anything else in the yard.
Free on-site consultation and a detailed, no-obligation written estimate.
Most Santa Fe yards are watered on a schedule someone set years ago, for plants that have since changed. A drip irrigation system built around what you are growing now uses less water and grows healthier plants. It is usually the single highest-return improvement on a high-desert property.
Whether you need a new irrigation system installation, a conversion from spray, or help sorting out a system that has never quite worked, our drip irrigation services cover design, installation, repair, and seasonal care. Water-efficient irrigation starts with a design that matches the landscape.
Call Evergreen Landscape Pros at (505) 375-6901 or request your free estimate online, and let’s get your irrigation system installation scheduled before the dry stretch of spring.
