# Using Circles To Irrigate Square Lawns?



## GrassWrangler

Hi all.

I'm getting tired of using hoses and sprinkles to keep my lawn alive in the summer. So I'm looking into installing an in ground irrigation system.
After looking around at the options. I'm confused, puzzled, and discouraged at what I'm finding.
Most residential lawns are either square or rectangle shaped. Yet every in ground system I've seen uses heads spraying in a circle pattern.

I have two rectangle areas I need to irrigate.
Area #1 is the front lawn 42 x 24
Area #2 is the front parkway 42 x 11

I'm happy with the results I get from using 2 above ground oscillating sprinklers.
But I can't find anyone that makes pop up oscillating sprinkler heads.
Geometry proves that inserting a circle into a square/rectangle means the corners never get reached.
The way I'm seeing this problem addressed is to add heads that are watering just the corners. And then more heads to water the center area.
In other words. Everyone seems to be using extra heads because of the limitations of circle patter heads. 
I don't get it? Why are you all doing this when an oscillating pop up head would lay down a square/rectangle pattern using far less heads?

Another problem with adding corner heads like this is that one side of my two areas are actually my neighbor's property.
We are friendly with each other and have an understanding that I will take care of the grass on that side even though it's technically his property. Because it's IMHO silly to not cut or care for a 3 ft strip like that.
Have you ever driven by houses and seen neighbors that don't cut that small strip of grass because it's not their property? It looks terrible. Thankfully my neighbor is reasonable. But I can't run the risk of installing irrigation heads in those corners on that side. Because who know what the next home owner might be like. Some people are touchy about property lines.

In my mind. Using pop up oscillating heads seems like a far better/cheaper head pattern for most square/rectangle residential lawns.
I know they evaporate more than circular heads. But if we water in the morning that shouldn't make much of difference. 
Am I the only person in the world wanting to install in ground pop up oscillating heads?
There's got to be a good reason why they don't exist. Can you guys tell me why?


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## BobLovesGrass

Use a head that can be reduced to less than 360degrees like 90 and spray from the corner back in.

Location selection would be a hassle if you try to shoot inside out and hit a particular line.


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## PNW_George

For the narrow strip a pop up sprayer would work. I use Hunter ProSpray 4" Pop Up 's. You might need to install them on each side of the 42 x 11 strip to get an even overlap. They have an adjustable spray pattern up to 360 degrees but when installed around the edge of the lawn they are usually set at around 45 or 90 degrees.

_But I can't run the risk of installing irrigation heads in those corners on that side. Because who know what the next home owner might be like. Some people are touchy about property lines._

If you ran the irrigation line on your side of the property you could easily change the spray pattern if new neighbors move in in order to keep the irrigation pointed towards only your property.

For larger areas I use Hunter Gear Drive Pop Ups'. Only the one in the middle of my lawn is adjusted for 360 degrees. The rest vary from 90 to 135 degrees. I'm sure there are other manufacturers with similar products.

https://www.hunterindustries.com/irrigation-product/spray-bodies/pro-sprayr

https://www.hunterindustries.com/product-line/rotors


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## GrassWrangler

I can't see how the things you're suggesting will solve my coverage or my property problems.
I'm still not understanding why everyone is using circular heads to cover square/rectangle shaped areas?

If there was such a thing as a pop up head that looked like the melnor minimax oscillating sprinkler. I could install two of them in the 42 x 24 area and one of them in the center of the 42 x 11 rectangle area and it would cover them very well without needing heads at all of the corners. Which I can't do on one side due to property lines. 
But nobody makes such a thing.

Here's a layout I made of my property in case it helps.
Thanks for the help.


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## g-man

Check out irrigationtutorials.com. It will explain this a lot better than I can.

There is a whole industry around irrigation technology, nozzles and such. The main goal is not to just get the lawn wet, but to get even amount of water in every spot of the lawn (aka even distribution). Most nozzles are design to provide a round pattern because a square one that is even distribution is really hard with the current laws of physics. There are some square pattern but they mostly work in short distance (4ft x 15ft).

To get around the problem, you will need to use a circular nozzle but set to 90 degree at each corner. Then you want the head of one nozzle be able to spray at least 2 nozzle (even distribution). In your case, i would use Hunter mp3000 set to 24ft distance. You will need 6, 4 in each corner and 2 set to 180 in the top and bottom of the middle to cover the front lawn. All in your property should be fine (not perfect but ok).

For the front parkway area, mp1000 at 10ft and you will need 10 heads to get even coverage. I would set this up in two zone (front lawn and parkway) to give you the flexibility to run the parkway longer duration in case it gets more sun/heat.

The other option is to treat the whole area as a big 40ft square. You would then need 4 rotors at each corner at 40ft throw distance. The only problem with this approach is that you will be watering the sidewalk. It is very common for most irrigation installing company to take this short cut since it is cheaper for them to install and win the bid.

In all of the above, i assume no trees that can block the water trajectory.


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## GrassWrangler

Thanks for the help g-man.
Yes. No trees or plants. 
The areas are wide open. Which is why they get clobbered so bad in the summer and need lots of watering.

10 heads just for the little parkway area?........ouch!
Heads at the corners seems to be the standard. Unfortunately, I can't put heads on all the of the corners due to the property lines. I'm sure my current neighbor wouldn't object to it. But I'm worried if he sells and the new neighbor is an a-hole and makes me dig them up.

I guess I have no choice. This is the way things are done.
If I want something more reasonable without using a bird's nest of piping & heads for my small yard(no way in hell I'm putting 10 heads on my parkway) I'm going to have invent it from scratch myself.

Thanks for the help.


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## PNW_George

The cost of 3 Melnor minimax sprinklers is about the same as 10 Hunter mp1000 nozzles. The irrigation pipe will require a little more labor but irrigation pipe and fittings are not that expensive. Controllers, valves, number of zones etc. will need to be configured. I find the circle design is very flexible allowing even coverage over just about any layout and the heads are barely noticeable when not in use.

I used oscillating sprinklers for years on my narrow strips of lawn before having irrigation installed and I find I get much more even coverage while using less water with the pop up sprayers.


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## GrassWrangler

@PNW_George
Even if I wanted to use something like that. I still have a problem because I can't put them in the corners on my neighbor's side.


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## g-man

Like i said above, you place the heads in your property. The heads further away will provide some water to the 3ft of lawn between the edge and your property. Not perfect, but it will work.


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## JDgreen18

If your current neighbor gives the Ok you can run the heads on his property, just run the main pipe on your property then send out 3 foot pipe to the end. If he sells and the new neighbor objects you can easily just dig a hole cut the pipe and move the heads in 3 feet.

That being said there is some legal issues according to what I was reading(I installed irrigation on my neighbors wirh thier approval) An irrigation system is part of your houses plumbing so by installing heads across property lines gives you right to that land over a certain amount of years, I think it was 20 years.


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## MasterMech

@GrassWrangler Have you looked into Irrigreen? May be just the ticket for you if you don't need a lot of heads as the head itself is quite pricey.

https://irrigreen.com/






Disclaimer: I have not used these heads, I am not endorsing them. Just showing you that they exist.


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## GrassWrangler

^Yeah. I've looked at the Irrigreen heads. I like the concept, but they're way too expensive.
Most people in housing tracts have rectangle lawns. They don't need to have a zillion programmable points.
So if they could figure out how to make these cheaper using only four points. Or possibly make it a mechanical rather than digital water control to keep the costs down. Then it might be a good solution for many of us.

It's something that Orbit & Rain Bird should be doing R&D on for sure.


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