Sprinkler Systems
Why is an irrigation system so important to my landscape?
An irrigation system helps you direct the correct amount of water to your plant materials. The benefit to you is convenience and peace of mind. Just as important, these systems help maintain the health of your garden landscape. During dry spells, sprinkler systems provide a substitute for natural rain, helping you save water, money, energy and time.
What are the parts that make up an irrigation system?
A proper sprinkler system uses a combination of heads, zones and controller technology to create a system unique to your landscape design.
Proper head spacing, something that shows the true quality of your system, is crucial for even watering coverage. Spacing is determined by the calculation and specific measuring of head locations.
If you’re installing a system into an established lawn, it is critical to hand-dig trenches so as not to disturb any lines and wiring, including landscape lighting wiring. It is also important to call for utility line locations. Otherwise, it can be expensive to repair any resulting damage.
If you’re building a new home, a tree preservation plan may include a temporary irrigation system to water the trees during construction. It will help minimize long-term damage to your trees.
Before installing a sprinkler system, permits are required by some cities. Your landscape designer or landscape architect must be fluent in this process.
Once our system is installed, what do we need to know about maintaining it?
You will want to monitor the times and days of watering, which will change depending on the season and the weather. In Houston, the best time to water is usually between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., which puts water on the plants and ground before the sun comes up and starts putting out heat.
Since the sprinkler system is both mechanical and electronic, ongoing maintenance is another critical aspect. You can expect the regular replacement of broken heads and stuck valves. Before working with any landscape contractor, we advise our clients to understand the kind of landscape maintenance service they offer after the installation.
An irrigation system helps you direct the correct amount of water to your plant materials. The benefit to you is convenience and peace of mind. Just as important, these systems help maintain the health of your garden landscape. During dry spells, sprinkler systems provide a substitute for natural rain, helping you save water, money, energy and time.
What are the parts that make up an irrigation system?
A proper sprinkler system uses a combination of heads, zones and controller technology to create a system unique to your landscape design.
- Most systems use three different types of sprinklers: 1) Rotors are water heads that operate by rotating streams of water back and forth over the landscape. They work well in large areas like lawns. 2) Pop-up spray heads produce a fan-shaped pattern of water designed for smaller or irregular spaces such as landscape beds. 3) Drip irrigation and bubblers produce smaller streams of water and are suitable for trees, rose gardens, pots, urns and planters.
- With zones, you can separate your landscape into the different areas, such as lawn and beds, that require varying watering conditions due to the difference in plants and sunlight conditions. Zones also address the problem existing in most residential systems caused by the water pressure not being great enough to water an entire lawn at one time.
- The controllers used today are usually computerized and come with different programs. Rain sensors and water delay options prevent over-watering during rainy times.
Proper head spacing, something that shows the true quality of your system, is crucial for even watering coverage. Spacing is determined by the calculation and specific measuring of head locations.
If you’re installing a system into an established lawn, it is critical to hand-dig trenches so as not to disturb any lines and wiring, including landscape lighting wiring. It is also important to call for utility line locations. Otherwise, it can be expensive to repair any resulting damage.
If you’re building a new home, a tree preservation plan may include a temporary irrigation system to water the trees during construction. It will help minimize long-term damage to your trees.
Before installing a sprinkler system, permits are required by some cities. Your landscape designer or landscape architect must be fluent in this process.
Once our system is installed, what do we need to know about maintaining it?
You will want to monitor the times and days of watering, which will change depending on the season and the weather. In Houston, the best time to water is usually between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., which puts water on the plants and ground before the sun comes up and starts putting out heat.
Since the sprinkler system is both mechanical and electronic, ongoing maintenance is another critical aspect. You can expect the regular replacement of broken heads and stuck valves. Before working with any landscape contractor, we advise our clients to understand the kind of landscape maintenance service they offer after the installation.
posted by Jeff Halper at
6:33 PM
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