May 23, 2011

Designing Your Own Sprinkler System - Part 4

Creating zones is vital to successful sprinkler system design. Zones have a group of sprinkler heads connected to one sprinkler system valve. You must determine how many zones you need to have an effective lawn watering system. There are many reasons to create stations or zones. First, stations allow you to provide your yard with adequate coverage so there are no dry patches in your lawn. Second, watering zones help determine your yard's different watering needs such as shady versus sunny areas, grass versus shrubs, etc. Here are a couple of things to remember as you create your different sprinkler zones:
  • Do not mix different types of water sprinklers in one zone (i.e gear drive, impact, bubbler, etc)
  • Use a consistent pipe size throughout to maintain proper water flow
Start with the large area sprinklers and work your way to the smallest sprinkler heads. To determine the maximum number of sprinkler heads in each zone, use information you collected earlier including main line size, water pressure and type of water sprinkler head you selected for a certain area. On the graph you drew earlier, map out stations and group the same types of sprinkler heads together.
Once your large area sprinklers are complete, follow the above guidelines for creating stations with medium and small area yard sprinklers.
Be sure to apply a number to each zone so you know how many stations you have in your yard. This will later help you determine what kind of watering timer to use.
Now that you have split your yard into sprinkler zones, you can plan your sprinkler valve placement.

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Phil Goold is a retired landscaper of 30 years. He loves being outside more than anything else, except maybe pie. He enjoys connecting with other landscapers and gardeners because everyone brings something new and fun to the table. Connect with Phil on Twitter and Google+.

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