# DIY irrigation - Shaded area on a different zone?



## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

hey TLF.

how much does shade impact watering to the point that you change/add a zone to a sprinkler system?
Im going through all of the measurements now to supply for a free design but wanted to ask ahead of time.

I have a large Sugar Maple tree in my back yard that throws a lot of shade through most of the day. That area of the back yard and the remaining area of the yard grow and react differently even with my single-type KBG so im certain there is some difference in watering requirements but not sure how to differentiate it.

Here is a few photos of my yard and I will get a CAD drawing done shortly that shows the transition line in the yard where the grass responds differently.

Early morning shade from the house. The lot runs deep east to west, so we are looking west. Large tree visible. shaded under this tree most of the day.









Late afternoon (~5:30pm, 8pm sundown), Mid-Reno (pool not done). you can see how much shade the tree has.









Mid/late afternoon 5:30pm (9pm sun-down). well shaded between the house and the tree.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

So I have researched this issue for my own purposes and came to the conclusion that building an irrigation system around shade was nonsensical.

Shade changes over time, but your irrigation system is permanent.

The better practice is to prune the trees to let more light through the canopy. I see a ton of errant limbs on your tree that, if pruned, would extend the life of the tree, encourage healthy growth, and allow more light to the grass. Grass in shade does not necessarily need less water, it just doesn't react as quickly to drought as grass in the hot summer sun. But grass is grass; you got to water it based on the cultivar and the conditions. Grass in shade will, however, thin out over time and grow taller to reach the sun.

Adopt the practice that gets to the root of the issue rather than veering away from accepted irrigation principles.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

FYI: I have a Stihl KM 131 with Pole Saw attachment that is awesome, but I also have a very effective battery powered pole saw made by Kobalt 40V that I think I bought at Lowes for under $200. That little Kobalt can prune any limb (if it's bigger than the saw can handle you shouldn't be pruning it). The battery will last about twice as long as I can physically work/drag tree limbs. It has a reach of about 10 feet, so I will climb up a very sturdy 8-ft fiberglass ladder and have a reach of about 15-18 feet in the air. That is more than enough to open up the canopy to let some grass grow.

Save the money on your complex irrigation and get the Kobalt 40V and get to work is what I say.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have been slowly limbing the tree as the season goes on that may not be pictured above. Reason being is some damage from the pool company and general best practice. The old fence before I built this was 5' tall and now it is 7' tall which creates a lot more shade but the privacy is great (plus a fence was required with the pool permit).

My neighbor is an arborist and he suggested I leave the tree alone as much as possible when I asked about getting more light to my grass. He is mostly interested in the health of the tree though and not so much thinking about growing nice grass under it.


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## mattcoughlin (Jul 8, 2018)

If you have the ability i would suggest it. i had my side yard (700 sq ft facing north and south) on one zone. It runs along my driveway as well as along my house. The grass along my house only gets about 1.5 hours of sunlight a day while along my driveway it gets 12+ hours. I have a rachio sprinkler controller and if i set it up to water my grass for the sunlight requirements for the grass along the house, the driveway section stresses and dries out very badly. If i do the opposite my grass is wet and water squishes out when i walk on a 90 degree day in july, as well as growing moss in the summer. I know this is an extreme case, but i broke my zone into 2 after the fact and have had much better success!


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Yes, i would

i'm surprised there are pools that far north....i guess you heat the water?


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

For a different perspective, I would and do zone to account for shade. Around here, in Summer full sun areas need about 1.5" per week where partial shaded areas need less than half that and more deeply shaded areas are closer to a third of that. Fungus from overwatering can be a huge problem here. Some Summers, overwatering leads to worse results than underwatering.

If degree of shade changes over time (like if a huge tree dies and has to be removed), it's no hardship to change the run time in that zone to account for that. It's a lot harder to keep a zone with mixed shade and full sun happy and healthy.


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## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

Delmarva Keith said:


> ... It's a lot harder to keep a zone with mixed shade and full sun happy and healthy.


+1


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## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

Its called hydrozoning and is best practice.


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## MMoore (Aug 8, 2018)

thank you akk for your feedback.

I will carry on with zoning these areas separately. the extra investment for DIY is a few feet of tube and a valve, so its pretty minimal.



jayhawk said:


> i'm surprised there are pools that far north....i guess you heat the water?


i use a gas heater to extend the season. pools are extremely common here.

through the summer, the water is a nice 80-85 without the heater with the amount of sun it gets (10am to sundown mid-summer)


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