Tag Archives: Sprinkler

Sprinkler Systems Do it Yourself

“Sprinkler systems do it yourself” at first sounds like a good idea. I mean hey,whats involved? You run some pipes, connect some sprinklers, Bada-Boom, Bada-Bing, no problem!

WRONG.

Without knowing how to properly configure your lawn irrigation you will end up over watering some parts of the landscape and under watering others. What you will end up with is weeds and dead plants. There is more involved than just “throwing water” around your yard. What you are striving for with any irrigation system is one thing: equal precipitation. Equal precipitation means that areas of your yard, and the specific plants in that area receive the same amount of water based on need. Here is an example. Lets say zone (area) #1 consists of St. Augustine grass surrounded by Swedish Ivy. The water requirements or St. Augustine grass is different than the landscape co-efficient for Swedish Ivy. Yet, the sprinklers must be set for the St. Augustine because it uses more water. What happens? Lots of weeds in the drought tolerant Swedish Ivy beds. And it can get worse. What if the Swedish Ivy is under some trees and the grass is in the sun? You could actually drown the Ivy trying to sufficiently water the turf.

So, how do you deal with these different types of plants needing different amounts of water? Proper sprinkler system design. It a nutshell this means more zones or separately irrigated areas. “Hydo-zoning” means calculating the water need based on plant type and conditions (sun or shade) and varying soil conditions. Bada-Boom Bada-Bing it ain’t.

After determining your hyro-zone requirement, we now get into sprinkler head type and friction factor (pipe sizing) limitations and pressure fluctuations. All of these factors affect the amount of water applied to your specific landscape requirements.

Bada-Boom Bada-Bing it ain’t. You want to save money money by doing the labor yourself, yet you need a step-by-step blueprint to follow so that you put your sprinkler system in correctly. Luckily for you, I “know a guy”. I actually DO know him. We are both certified Irrigation Contractors in Florida, and my friend wrote an easy to follow, non-technical “blueprint” for the homeowner about Sprinkler Systems Do It Yourself. As a licensed sprinkler contractor, I’ve reviewed his blueprint I can tell you that if you follow this easy to implement plan, you will end up with a better sprinkler system than the “lowballers” will install at half the price. It’s certainly worth checking out. Click the following blue link in the author box to claim you’re easy to do “Sprinkler System DIY” eBook:

Craig Borglum CIC/CID/CLIA is a Certified and Licensed Irrigation Specialist in Central Florida. More information and articles on how-to irrigation solutions, click on sprinkler systems DIY.