# Can you give me irrigation suggestions after watching my home video?



## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

I have put together many of the DIY pieces of the puzzle together (ferts, micros, pest control, etc), however the irrigation factors eludes me, and that's probably #1 or #2 on the list of importance.

With me not being familiar with irrigation equipment or their functionality, I am limited about how to even intelligently _ask_ for help.

I also am not gifted to draw a model on graph paper for those who are inclined to analyze layouts. I wish I had a drone, but I am hoping this will suffice.

I have a lot of 'sprawl' and my house being in the center of my home doesn't help me.

Here is the link. (Pardon the weeds and beat up grass. I just got my equipment and product all very recently.) I did measure 'zones' though. That's the one thing I could do.


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

Here are a few things to analyze:

How many gpm is your water supply?

How many zones do you have and how many sprinklers on each zone?

What type of heads are you using? Rotary or pop-up spray?

Is there head to head coverage?

Have you determined how long it would take to put down an inch of water?

These are the areas I would look at first. What other concerns do you have?


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## BadDogPSD (Jul 9, 2020)

You might be able to get a Google Earth image of your property using Zillow. Download the picture & print.
Also Rachio has a mapping tool that I was just playing with that uses an overhead image (probably Google Earth) to help determine the size of your lawn area. I'm on my phone and have big fat fingers and got frustrated before I finished. I'll try again later on a computer.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

Wiley said:


> Here are a few things to analyze:
> 
> How many gpm is your water supply


@Wiley I read that to find out your GPM, that you put a 5 gallon bucket under your water outlet pipe and time how long it takes to fill the bucket to 5 gallons. The formula for calculating the flow in GPM is: 300 divided by the seconds it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket = GPM. Because my outside spigots are so low to the ground, the only way I could do this test is running it through my hose. Will that provide an accurate read, or does it have to flow straight from the spigot?



> How many zones do you have and how many sprinklers on each zone?


I calculated 7 zones needing watering. In the video, they are: 1. the strip that you see curbside, 2. a small patch on the opposite side of the driveway, 3. the small patch leading up to the porch, 4. the center area of the front lawn, 5. the long strip with all the weeds on the right, 6. the long patch in the back with the wooded area and buckthorn, 7. the final area in the video where I end up on the side of the garage. I measured these respective areas with a tape measurer, but I will be re-doing it over the weekend with a digital wheel measuring tool.



> What type of heads are you using? Rotary or pop-up spray


*Nothing.* I only have that hose that you see in the video...hence the thread. I don't want to keep moving that hose. All I have is those 2 hose-end sprinklers that don't really do much. I need a solution bad. I have no idea what I can do to adequately water this area. I need a sense of what hoses and parts that I need to buy. This is what I am lost on. Underground isn't an option for me, unfortunately.



> Is there head to head coverage?


N/A at this time. I made this thread to get a sense of what products that I need to buy because I have nothing but a cheap water hose.



> Have you determined how long it would take to put down an inch of water?


I lack any irrigation products to make the determination. I was trying to get some advice on what I need to buy that could seemingly cover the lawn that I have. I figured that if I provided a video, that would give more experienced people an idea of what I need to go buy.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

BadDogPSD said:


> You might be able to get a Google Earth image of your property using Zillow. Download the picture & print.
> Also Rachio has a mapping tool that I was just playing with that uses an overhead image (probably Google Earth) to help determine the size of your lawn area. I'm on my phone and have big fat fingers and got frustrated before I finished. I'll try again later on a computer.


@BadDogPSD the square footage that I have listed in my profile is what I determined using a tape measurer. It was an arduous task, but I think it's fairly accurate. I do have a lawn wheel that is digital that should be here Saturday. I will be re-measuring to see how close/off I was.

Mostly I just need a sense of what hoses, products, accessories to buy. I don't know irrigation equipment well, so I don't know what would cover my needs, so I figured providing a video of the property would lead to folks telling what I need to go buy...if that makes sense.


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

I would start by doing to gpm test with the hose to give you an idea on what your working with output wise. It sound like you are going to do an above ground system via a hose spigot. Do you have different spigots as access points? I would try and keep your lines tidy along the beds and make a single trench to go across to the island in the front yard. You can do this with hoses but I would personally would do it with poly pipe (funny pipe) as it would weather better and be significantly cheaper.

This is a good thread with a nice above ground system for reference.
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5924


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

Wiley said:


> I would start by doing to gpm test with the hose to give you an idea on what your working with output wise. It sound like you are going to do an above ground system via a hose spigot. Do you have different spigots as access points? I would try and keep your lines tidy along the beds and make a single trench to go across to the island in the front yard. You can do this with hoses but I would personally would do it with poly pipe (funny pipe) as it would weather better and be significantly cheaper.
> 
> This is a good thread with a nice above ground system for reference.
> https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=5924


@Wiley it took 30 seconds for my 5 gallon bucket to get filled with the spigot turned completely on.

I have two outdoor spigots - in the video, the front one is visible at 1:10 into the video, and the rear spigot is visible at the 2:00 mark.


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## Wiley (Dec 2, 2019)

So for your gpm:

5÷30=0.16

0.16×60=9.6 gpm

Effectively your total sprinkler output in gpm needs to be less than that number. For example, if you look at the Rain Bird R-VAN18 sprinkler set at 180* a single sprinkler would use about 1 gpm. To ensure that all sprinklers work optimally I would use 5 or 6 sprinklers per station. This set-up would use about 6 gpm.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

Wiley said:


> So for your gpm:
> 
> 5÷30=0.16
> 
> ...


@Wiley this is really helpful. I have struggled identifying what products I should consider. I just went to Youtube to see how this sprinkler looks.

Based on my property, how many of these do you think I'd need? And how would my hose setup look? In this video, I can't even see them.

(FYI, I am a bit unclear on the differences between above ground vs underground setups.)


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