# Above ground lawn sprinkler situation



## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Hey guys,

*TLDR: I have a rectangular backyard that I want to have an above ground sprinkler setup. One side has hostas/hydrangeas that need their watering. Another side is cedars that need their own. Then the lawn in the centre that I do not want to dig sprinklers into, but need watered. The long version below shows what I, a big newbie, thought should work but afraid that it may not due to the split spigot low pressure and the distance from the spigot.
*

As a renter, I don't want to do any lawn sprinkler setup that requires trenches so my only option is to come up with some above-ground system that use stakes.

First, my main spigot is on the side of the house and using a splitter I got two hoses. One for the backyard, and one for the front yard. The current setup uses Gardena stuff and I simply turn on the spigot that's connected to the outside spigot every day in the morning and evening, manually. This I don't have a problem with.



(The green line is the hose that goes to the backyard, the blue to the front)

The front yard uses a Gardena ZoomMaxx Oscillating sprinkler and largely not the subject of this thread. But due to the decrease in pressure (split spigot), it misses the outer, street facing edges.

The subject of this thread is the backyard.

Here's the current setup of the backyard "watering" lol which is a Gardena Aquazoom. The orange is where the water makes it (the cedars and the far bed of hostas and hydrangeas). The red area is where the water doesn't make it and is leaving dry spots. The area on the left doesn't get much water because I had to adjust the width spray of the Gardena. This is to avoid the water going into the left neighbours backyard. I thought the wind would take care of watering the side, but I guess that's not a reliable option.



Here's the setup I was imagining.

- I'd setup a hose/sprinkler that is staked into the ground (the red lines)
- Whenever I have guests, I "disconnect" the hose from this system with those Gardena style connectors and roll up the hose and put it out of sight. (the red arrow)
- The hose/sprinkler setup would ideally water the cedars, supply water to the staked sprinklers (which I thought would be these Gardena Vario sprinklers) (the blue circles)
- The same hose then connects into a soaker hose to water the hostas/hydrangeas in the back (thin red line in the back)
- That soaker hose then connects back into a regular hose that again has Gardena Vario sprinklers. (red line on left) _[a concern I have is how I'm going to use the string trimmer in that left side area without hitting the spiked sprinklers]_

This is what it would look like (including dry spots):



NOTE: The fence on the left is a neighbour who doesn't like water going over the fence into theirs. So we gotta prevent that.

What do you guys think, and what do you think is the best way to do it and avoid the dry spots that I think I'll have with the setup shown above, and preferably low cost?

Thanks so much for reading.
Here's what the backyard looks like without all the annotation:


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Hey there, welcome to TLF. Glad you found us.

If you can give us some measurements, that would be helpful. There's quite a few sprinkler heads out there that might be able to cover your lawn with just a few of them. There are some tools that you'll need to get, one of which is a Water Pressure gauge. This will help us figure out if you've got enough pressure to run the sprinkler heads off of one spigot/zone, or if you'll need to divide them up.

There are a few members here who have done systems on their own using above-ground methods that works fine.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Like CK said, we will need some rough dimensions. I would split the back into two areas. Two squares with heads at each corner.

I would not use a splitter to run all the areas at once since it will drop your gpm and pressure too much. Use a multi zone tinker that will split and water each hose base on the program.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Colonel K0rn said:


> Hey there, welcome to TLF. Glad you found us.
> 
> If you can give us some measurements, that would be helpful. There's quite a few sprinkler heads out there that might be able to cover your lawn with just a few of them. There are some tools that you'll need to get, one of which is a Water Pressure gauge. This will help us figure out if you've got enough pressure to run the sprinkler heads off of one spigot/zone, or if you'll need to divide them up.
> 
> There are a few members here who have done systems on their own using above-ground methods that works fine.


Hey guys,

Sorry about missing the dimensions! I knew I was forgetting something!

*About 56 ft long and 22 ft wide (includes the gravel seating area). Total area 1054 sq ft (doesn't include the gravel seating area)
*
Colonel K0rn, thanks. Some googling brought me here and I'm excited to get this project going and learning more in future! I use a Gardena splitter, FYI.

Per your suggestion, I'm thinking of getting this Rain Bird pressure gauge, although I'm not sure I can check the split connectors pressure with that, gonna have to get another Gardena connector for it I guess, or use the one from the oscillating sprinkler.



g-man said:


> Like CK said, we will need some rough dimensions. I would split the back into two areas. Two squares with heads at each corner.
> 
> I would not use a splitter to run all the areas at once since it will drop your gpm and pressure too much. Use a multi zone tinker that will split and water each hose base on the program.


Thanks G-man! I thought of using a two-valve timer for to avoid the pressure issues but ended up not going for it. Not only do I have a nosy neighbour but because the main spigot is in the alley between both the houses, it's open for the world to see. If I had a spigot in the backyard, man life would have been good (_including the hose going from the left side thus allowing me to have a hose connected permanently without needing to remove it on the weekends_) but alas...


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

Devil said:


> Thanks G-man! I thought of using a two-valve timer for to avoid the pressure issues but ended up not going for it. Not only do I have a nosy neighbour but because the main spigot is in the alley between both the houses, it's open for the world to see. If I had a spigot in the backyard, man life would have been good (_including the hose going from the left side thus allowing me to have a hose connected permanently without needing to remove it on the weekends_) but alas...


....unless, of course, I can find a two-valve timer that doesn't look like a million bucks! :lol:


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

g-man said:


> Like CK said, we will need some rough dimensions. I would split the back into two areas. Two squares with heads at each corner.
> 
> I would not use a splitter to run all the areas at once since it will drop your gpm and pressure too much. Use a multi zone tinker that will split and water each hose base on the program.


Now I'm thinking maybe I'll keep the existing setup and get the 2 valve timer to keep the pressure up. Only problem is if I increase the pressure on the Gardenas, they go into the neighbour's yard. So really gotta find the right placement, right pressures that will cover my yard and not lead to wastage on sides.

I'm guessing there's no easy way to add spiked sprinklers which is why there haven't been any replies here. So maybe just best for me to get that two valve timer.


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## b0nk3rs (Aug 21, 2017)

Not sure if you ever figured this out or not but you could cover your area very efficiently with MP Rotators on spikes and there would be virtually no water going over the fence. Cost is about $15 per head and you can choose the distances you need and do 90 and 180 degrees for good coverage.


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## Devil (Jun 15, 2018)

b0nk3rs said:


> Not sure if you ever figured this out or not but you could cover your area very efficiently with MP Rotators on spikes and there would be virtually no water going over the fence. Cost is about $15 per head and you can choose the distances you need and do 90 and 180 degrees for good coverage.


Didn't really do much other than installing a two valve timer and the pressures of the Gardenas have worked out. Sure there is wastage in the front yard, and the backyard has one area that unfortunately doesn't get water (thankfully it's in a shady area so the grass is doing fine so far)

How would you recommend I install these Rotators on the same hose?


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