Lawn sprinkler systems.

[skijay]

Since this is an outdoor forum, I thought I would ask this question and ask for some advice. Does anybody here have a sprinkler system for their lawn?

I had one estimate for 5000 sq ft area, and had a little bit of a sticker shock with the price. Let's just say a new driveway installed is cheaper!

 

[Greg]

Does anybody here have a sprinkler system for their lawn?

Yup. A 50' garden hose and one of those yellow plastic oscillating sprinklers. Total cost: ~$40.

 

[smitty77]

I follow Greg's method also. Two sprinklers and two 50 ft. hoses for front and back. I also bought a cheap ($10) timer at Wal-mart. You have to manually turn it on, but it runs anywhere from 15 min to 120 min and then shuts off. I usually turn the timer on when I leave the house at 4 or 5 in the morning. Beats having a system that you have to drain in the fall (usually with compressed air) so that it doesn't freeze in the winter. Not to mention broken sprinkler heads, malfunctioning timers and rain indicators, etc.

 

[skijay]

I currently run 2 garden hoses (one form the front of the house and the other from the back). It does the job, however I have to move the hoses each time I mow and the sprinkers every 20 minutes to cover the entire lawn.

Aesthetically, I like the built in system. Price wise I like my Job Lot hoses and my Gardenia brand sprinklers (Some one spent $$$ on those, and sold them for $1 at a tag sale. Could not pass that one buy!)

 

[Stephen]

My father had his backyard done. Since it was dug up, he decided that was the time to get the sprinklers installed.

6 zones, with a sensor that cancels the sprinklers if there's been 1/4" or more of rain in the past 24 hours. With the time he's gained... well, he's found other projects to tinker with. His lawn looks like a green carpet now, too. Plus he's added a garden in range of the sprinklers, so it's fairly low maintenance.

So, there's a lot of time gain to having in-ground. That's how one could justify the cost.

-Stephen

 

[HughK]

Living in one of the growing communities off Rte495 in MA by the RI border we face watering bans throughout the year. As of tomorrow, 7/1 our town will ban all sprinklers, but you can hand water on alternating days- no watering on Sundays.

As a result, have pretty much given up on the front lawn, the back stays mostly green due to tree cover. But what to do about the flowers and veggies. Well I found a company that sells used 55 gallon food grade barrels.- Old Pepsi and Coke containers. The barrels were $25 each. I have them at my downspouts off the garage. Then I pump them out with a portable sump pump, through a garden house, to a spray nossle- even enough pressure to run a sprinkler.

With a good rain, even just a moderate storm they fill in about 15 minutes. It's a bit of work to get the watering done, but its free and I don't have to worry about the Water police and a fine.

Just thought, pray for more rain.

Hugh.

 

[MichaelJ]

Hugh,
Are you in Frankin? The town is actually selling rain barrels at a discount to residents.

 

[skijay]

Storing rain water. I never thought of that. I do have a submersible pump I use to take water off of the pool cover in the spring. It is powerful.

Back in 2002 when my old pool was coming down. I contacted the local fire dept to see if they wanted to suck it dry (14,000 gallons). They declined. It all went down the drain.

The fire dept will go to a pond but can not go to a house and do this due to liability. I stressed the pool is coming down.

 

[teachski]

My brother used to install lawn sprinkler systems, his son has taken over their business now. They go all over the east coast. If you are interested let me know and I will give him your name, etc.

In addition to residential they have also done many golf courses.