Young SprinklerDaddy over at YouTube sums up the difference between spray and drip irrigation quite nicely:

SPRAY IRRIGATION Here a spray head is attached to a pipe for widespread water about 6′ to 12′ in all directions. “This method is good for watering a large bed of flowers or perennials that are all the same size,” says SprinklerDaddy. And lawns, he might have added. It is not suitable for a bed where there are different sized plants as the larger shrubs tend to block the water and the small shrubs get nothing.

DRIP IRRIGATION SprinklerDaddy really likes drip irrigation. He describes it as “cool.” He says: “This is for localized type of watering where you want to get water to the root of each shrub. There is no blocking out of smaller plants and no wasted water. It is a really good option when mulching. Once you have put down the bark or rocks, lay the pipes on top and cover with mulch. No need to dig a trench for the pipes.” And no need to watch the 1 min, 48 sec video either. All you will see is a talking head repeating what I have written above.

This video on Green Roofs was quite a surprise. This video, put out by Earth Pledge, was very well done and nicely produced. It features fantastic scenery, narrator Vanessa Rae, researchers, cool music, and even rolls off production credits at the end. Some of the material in this video is a bit advanced. However, the format of the video makes it where anyone can understand it. Vanessa discusses the highlights of each segment and then the researchers delve into the scientific details.

If you watch this video (and you definitely should), you will learn that green roofs are very beneficial to big cities. This video was filmed in New York City, home to numerous skyscrapers. Covering these buildings with a green roof can help tremendously.

You may be wandering what a green roof is. Well, it is exactly what it sounds like – a roof covered with vegetation. A green roof can survive with little or no maintenance for as long as 30-50 years. That’s a pretty great thing in itself.

Researchers shown on the video discussed the research currently being done. The purpose of green roof research is to determine why green roofs are valuable. Researchers are measuring storm water runoff (how plants on the ground control the water flow to earth) and temperature (how roofs with vegetation compare to those without).

A helpful diagram is shown in the video. This diagram shows that green rooms are made up of the following in this order starting from the top: (1) vegetation, (2) growing medium, (3) drainage, aeration, water storage, and root barrier, (4) insulation, (5) membrane protection and root barrier, (6) roofing membranes, and (7) structural support.

One of the researchers goes on to explain that a green roof keeps temperatures down which in turn acts to cool down the city. What could be better than that in the middle of the summer?

This video is highly recommended. You are guaranteed to learn something and will probably even be entertained for five minutes.