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IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
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join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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[Landscaping] Sprinkler timing

Now that the sprinklers are done and all I have to do is throw in the timer, I have to program the timer. We have two zones. Zone one is the front of the house and consists of two gardens with sprays, the front lawn with rotors, and the side yard with sprays. Zone two is the back yard and is three rotors. Front of the house is facing south. I turned on the front yard sprinklers for about twenty minutes and they drop about an 1/8th of an inch of water in that time. The rotors in front are Hunter PGJ and the rotors in back are Hunter PGP. The sprays are also Hunter. I measured the water by using an empty cat food can. The soil is a more of a rocky sandy type.

I'd like examples of how people here have their irrigation timers programmed. I don't want to over or under water. And there are no water restrictions from the city.

LazMan
Premium Member
join:2003-03-26
Beverly Hills, CA

LazMan

Premium Member

Generally about an inch to an inch and a half a week is good, for a strong healthy lawn IMO.

So at that rate, looking at 4-5 hours a week of watering...

1/8" in 20 mins seems awfully low to me...
TheMG
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join:2007-09-04
Canada
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TheMG to IowaCowboy

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The type of soil, local climate, sun exposure, drainage, etc will all affect how long and how often you need to water.

What works for someone in one area might not work for you. Heck, what works for your neighbor across the street may or may not work.

Start with something conservative such as 20 minutes 3 times a week and adjust watering time and frequency as necessary. It may take a few weeks to find the optimum settings for your unique situation.

When it comes to lawn irrigation, there is no "one size fits all" solution.

billaustin
they call me Mr. Bill
MVM
join:2001-10-13
North Las Vegas, NV

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We run five minutes cycles, three times per day, one hour apart, between midnight and 5am, based on the recommendations of the local water authority.

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

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It's a poorly designed system, there are seven sprays and three rotors on one zone and three rotors on the other. When I was researching sprinkler systems, it's not a good idea to mix head types (you should keep sprays with sprays and rotors with rotors). And just today I discovered another buried sprinkler when I was running it, one that sits right on the property line. And it barely works so another trip to the Depot. It's a spray so no more than a few bucks fortunately. Rotors aren't cheap, the smaller Hunter PGJ are about $9 and the Hunter PGP are about $12. The Hunter PGPs have been around longer than I've been alive. Sprays are a dime a dozen. The the head is about $2-3 for a 4" unit and the nozzles are about $1.50.

As for the system itself, I'm wondering if the 1/8 inch in 20 minutes could be a sign of inadequate flow or too many heads on the zone. I replaced them as the heads that were there were busted.

The heads in the back yard are in good condition but I replaced one with a PGP because the building (like I mentioned in previous posts) used to be part of a larger complex and I needed to adjust it so it would not spray onto the former complex (so it would do a 180 instead of doing a 360 as it sits on the newly established property line.

Msradell
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join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY

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I certainly agree with Iowa that mixing head types on a zone is not a good thing to do. The different types put out significantly different volumes of water in a given period of time. I have 4 zones with rotors (all PGP) and 3 zones with sprays. The sprays generally put out over twice as much water for a given length of time than the rotors do.
HarryH3
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join:2005-02-21

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Your PGP's came with a set of nozzles of varying sizes. You can change the nozzles to adjust the application rate. For example, if you have a #2 nozzle on a rotor that only covers 1/4 of a circle, then you would use a #4 on a rotor that covers 1/2 of a circle or a #6 on a nozzle that covers 3/4 of a circle. Doing this will assure that the area covered by each gets the same amount of water applied.

hortnut
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join:2005-09-25
PDX Metro

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said by IowaCowboy:

I'd like examples of how people here have their irrigation timers programmed. I don't want to over or under water. And there are no water restrictions from the city.

.

I have used tuna cans or similar to measure water output. They are about 1 inch deep. Spread enough around an area in a measurable pattern that you can diagram, so you can see what different sprinklers are putting out, especially in a mixed head system.

Also I would water after midnight. Less wind and of course less evaporation.

Watering is not just guesswork, but also a science.
modelamac7
join:2002-04-13
Waterford, MI

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I have 7 zones covering about half an acre. I have found via trial and error that 14 minutes once a day will keep the lawn green and healthy. If we have 1 day of decent rainfall or less, I do nothing. If it is heavy rain or two days of light rain, I turn the system off for 2-3 days.

The cycle is set to start at 4 AM.

I also keep the grass fairly long, about 3"-3.5". The shorter you cut it, the more you need to water.

mix
join:2002-03-19
Romeo, MI

mix

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You don't have mandatory odd/even watering days in Waterford?

cowboyro
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join:2000-10-11
CT

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I set mine by trial and error. Now it's watering daily for about 3-5 minutes on each zone. I would say it's about 1/16", areas with less sun exposure may even get less. I start watering at 11:30PM so that the dog doesn't bring dirt inside.
My soil is very rocky with only a thin layer of topsoil so it doesn't retain water well.

Msradell
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join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY

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Unless you have a type of soil that does not retain water at all you are much better off watering less often but more water each time. If you do many short watering. You encourage shallow root development of the grass. If you apply more water was often you encourage deep development which is much better for the grass in the long run.
Msradell

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said by HarryH3:

Your PGP's came with a set of nozzles of varying sizes. You can change the nozzles to adjust the application rate. For example, if you have a #2 nozzle on a rotor that only covers 1/4 of a circle, then you would use a #4 on a rotor that covers 1/2 of a circle or a #6 on a nozzle that covers 3/4 of a circle. Doing this will assure that the area covered by each gets the same amount of water applied.

That is certainly the way to balance PGPs but it certainly doesn't help trying to balance rotors with spray heads! They just shouldn't be mixed in a zone except in extremely difficult circumstances. The OP has many more zones available on his controller that he is not using.
HarryH3
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join:2005-02-21

HarryH3

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said by Msradell:

The OP has many more zones available on his controller that he is not using.

Yes, but what he doesn't have is the correct piping and valves in the yard to take advantage of those. Adding them after the fact is not a trivial undertaking. He's going to have to do the best he can with what he has to work with...
modelamac7
join:2002-04-13
Waterford, MI

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Nope.

robbin
Mod
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX

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said by IowaCowboy:

I'm wondering if the 1/8 inch in 20 minutes could be a sign of inadequate flow or too many heads on the zone.

Make sure you measure water flow during the same time period when you water. Water pressure can vary significantly though out the day and night.

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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I just changed the three rotors on the front yard to sprays. I only needed a 15 foot throw and the PGJ (smaller versions of the PGPs) were overthrowing it into the street and the driveways. The three sprinklers in the front lawn are in a "T" configuration where the one by the road is in the center and is a 180 arch and and the the two in the corners are in 45 degree archs.

Now the front yard is all sprays and the back yard is all rotors. Too bad I couldn't get my money back on the rotors since Home Depot won't take back something that's already been installed.
IowaCowboy

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

This is how the front yard is configured.



UHF
All static, all day, Forever
MVM
join:2002-05-24

3 recommendations

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You're watering weeds.

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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So the solution should be to throw down some Scott's weed and feed.

jrs8084
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join:2002-03-02
Statesville, NC

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said by IowaCowboy:

So the solution should be to throw down some Scott's weed and feed.

Or stop watering.

Weren't you interested in tearing out your landlord's toilets with low flow ones to save on water? Now you are watering his/her yard that is a far cry from landscaped?

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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I'm cleaning up the property, trying to give it curb appeal. The other two neighbors across the street fixed up their houses (new vinyl siding, new roofs, windows, etc). I'm going to keep up with the Jones by cleaning up the landscaping. The other tenant's garden was a mess of weeds so I asked her if it was ok to kill them so they got bathed in RoundUp. I just pulled a bunch of weeds out of our garden. I'll probably power wash the concrete.

Some tenants do care about the curb appeal. Having lived in rentals all my life I've had enough of the the lack of repairs or the jerry rigged repairs done by the landlord's handymen. That's why I fix things myself. I do things right. If I could have a green lawn; then it will look like a well maintained property and not like a piece of blight like every other rental in this city.
Expand your moderator at work

sivran
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join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

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Re: [Landscaping] Sprinkler timing

I'd hate to see my water bill if I watered that much.

We're also under tight water restrictions here -- once a week only.

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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I was looking up the deal on the water meter controversy in California and I was shocked to see that many homes don't have water meters. They have many homes that have flat rate water where you just pay one rate for all you can use (drink) water.

I've always had metered water where I've lived. That's why I want to optimize the timing on the sprinklers. I changed the rotors on the front lawn (that was a mix of rotors and sprays) with sprays so they will be consistent so they all apply water at the same rate.

Msradell
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join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY

Msradell

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said by IowaCowboy:

I was looking up the deal on the water meter controversy in California and I was shocked to see that many homes don't have water meters. They have many homes that have flat rate water where you just pay one rate for all you can use (drink) water.

I've read that several places too. No wonder they have water problem if they can't even determine how much a residence is using!

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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Timer came today, took me 15 minutes to install.





LazMan
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join:2003-03-26
Beverly Hills, CA

2 recommendations

LazMan

Premium Member

Looks like a nice timer you just gave your LL...

I know you won't listen - but stop doing work on a property you don't own.

well
@74.76.154.x

well

Anon

I get what you are saying but beyond your marriage the place you live says and is part of you more than most anything else in your life.
Most of us develop a bond for the place we live in that ends up affecting our decision making.
A landlord who understands this is more likely to have long term good tenants than one who treats the tenant as a recruit in a barracks.

That said Iowa should not be doing work on the wiring etc but he is also likely to never move giving the landlord a consistent return on his investment.

IowaCowboy
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Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

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And the rent is reasonable considering there are units on the bad side of town renting for more money that are in deplorable condition. A landlord tenant relationship is a delicate relationship that you don't want to rock the boat on. In other words, if you have to put off paying bills because of financial distress, the last bill you put off is the rent because if you stiff the landlord, you're out of there. You can live without telephone, cable, or internet but you do not put off paying the rent. And that rent check (for the full amount every month) goes in the mail shortly after I get paid. I've never missed a rent payment or had a rent check bounce.

I do get discounted rent for doing work.