Watering system

[Brian]

I've got a fairly large backyard. I dread every time summer comes around as I'm sure to lose some plants. Either that or I spend my entire evenings out their with a hose / moving the sprinkler around.

So if I want to put an irrigation system in what do I need to think about? Is it just a matter of measuring it out, then buying some hoses and connectors and a timer? I'm happy to put the hours in peicing it all together though be good to know what else I need to consider.

Thanks!

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @Brian. It's fantastic to have you join the community.

It's certainly a challenge to keep the plants alive at this time of year. I'll also be keen to hear advice from the Workshop community on this topic as I've been contemplating a similar watering system installation. At the moment we're just using soaker hoses and manual watering, but find with the latter we're often savaged by mozzies in the twilight. 

Looking forward to hearing about some of your other projects. 

Jason 

[Isobel]

It's a good DIY project but it does require some planning. I would recommend you carefully draw a plan as well as doing a flow test. Testing your water pressure is particularly important if you're going to try to cover a big area. 

Bunnings has a video series on it - http://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/garden/water-and-irrigation/how-to-plan-a-garden-irrigation-sy...

Here's the first video in the series about planning...

[Branchy249]

There are a number of things that you need to consider when installing an irrigation systems. the most important is getting an understanding of your water pressure as this will dictate how many sprinklers or sprayers you can run on your system.

You should also consider what type of sprayers or sprinklers you would like to install and where the irrigation system is being installed. This will also determine what size poly pipe you would use.

Generally any lawn irrigation system will use 19mm poly pipe and garden beds will use 13mm.

If you are installing pop ups or sprinklers in your lawn, you need to ensure that you space them at the right distance. Ideally each sprinkler should be spraying to the other sprinkler - this will ensure an even coverage and will stop dead patches appearing in your lawn.

Garden beds can feature a variety of different sprinklers, sprayers or drippers - it will be dependant on whether you want to water each individual plant or water the whole area. Watering each individual plant is far more water efficient, but can be cumbersome during the installation process which is why sprayers may be a better option.

Hope this helps...Good luck with it!

[Jason]

Fantastic advice, many thanks @Branchy249. I'm sure @Brian really appreciates you sharing your knowledge and experience.

Let me also extend a warm welcome to Workshop. It is fantastic to have you as a member of the community. Please continue to share your advice and I hope the community will also inspire and inform you.

Jason

[Shane]

Every summer I say I'm going to do this. Must get around to it. 

[karenspatch]

I've used the brown hose with inbuilt drippers under newspaper and lucerne mulch throughout my both my flower and veg garden. I get up to 45* summers and it has all stayed alive, generally 2 hours every second or third day in summer.

[Jason]

Many thanks for sharing @karenspatch. Sounds like a great system!

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to Workshop. It's great to have you as part of the community. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your posts soon.

Please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site.

Jason

[Nailbag]

Don't forget to get a water tank if you haven't got one already! It's fantastic to have a well planned working automatic irrigation system until you get your first water bill! If you don't have a water tank already, then research looking into that first. If you already have one, think about if its going to be big enough? Then the connected pump/s need to be suitable for the applications its connecting to. It's not until you rely on tank water for watering that you really start to appreciate when it rains and just how much water you go through just to keep the lawn green. Over summer I sacrifice areas of lawn that doesn't have much traffic to direct the water to areas that do and of course particular garden beds, especially the veggies. Bunnings can help you out with tanks, pumps and watering systems.

[Jason]

Any community members planning on installing a watering system in the lead up to summer?

Jason