What is the best way to irrigate a small lawn?

[Kris2]

Hi, would much appreciate some advice on how best to set up a DIY watering system for my lawn. The lawn is next to the pool with a fence and posts on the RSH and Bottom level. Taps are where the x is. 

1. Would it be worth considering drip irrigation for the lawn or are sprinklers easier? It is likely we will be replacing the lawn shortly. 

2. Unfortunately our water pressure is not very high- only 12 L per minute, so I don't am not sure I would be able to do pop up sprinklers.

3. I was wondering whether I could have sprinklers on the bottom and RHS as I could attach them to the fence. 

Any advice much appreciated. 

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[EricL]

Hello @Kris2

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's fantastic to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about how to irrigate your lawn.

I suggest having a quick look at this guide - How to install a drip irrigation watering system by @Adam_W. It will give you a very good idea of how drip irrigation works and what you need to consider when setting it up. It's great that you've made a diagram of your lawn, from here you can start planning out if you'll be using a sprinkler or a dripper.

I also recommend having a look at this guide as well - How to install a simple irrigation system by @srobinson

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to install irrigation sprayers and drippers

If you are planning on replacing your lawn in a short period of time, I suggest holding off on your irrigation plans. If you place your system before the new turf arrives you won't have to dig into the turf and disturb its settling period. Your pressure is sufficient, but you can always do a water test as shown in the guide. If the conditions are ideal, mounting the sprayers on your fence should be possible.

My number one tip for this project is to have it all down on paper. Planning your irrigation system means that you know what parts you'll need, how much pipe you'll be running and what kind of timer you'll be installing.

Let me call on our experienced members @Adam_W and @Noelle for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric 

[Noelle]

Hi @Kris2 

The guides Eric has referred you to are excellent resources and will be very helpful to you.

In my limited experience with irrigating lawns, I would use mini popup sprinklers rather than a dripper system, to ensure good coverage over the entire lawn area. Drippers, in my opinion, are better in garden beds where they can be set up around plants (over root systems).

Definitely install the system before your new lawn is put in - much easier overall.

[srobinson · Accepted solution]

Hey @Kris2 , 

Pop-up sprinklers are definitely the way to go to watering your lawn, but you're up against it with your water pressure and the shape of your lawn unfortunately..

I haven't used them before, but one possible solution is to use a lower pressure pop-up - something like a Pope 50 mm 1/4 Circle Master Pop-Up Sprinkler  which don't require as much pressure as some of the other pop up sprinklers out there.

The coverage isn't ideal, but a layout using these type of sprinklers could look something like the below.  I always lay my pipe out, connect everything and test it (above ground) before I bury it, so I'd maybe even see if you have enough pressure to run a 4th pop-up opposite your tap (marked with a '?').  You might find, despite a slight drop in the radius of the other three sprinklers, that you have enough coverage across most of your lawn.  Just make sure you connect all the sprinklers up in a loop - just to ensure you get consistent pressure to all sprinklers.

Hopefully that helps? 

 

[EricL]

Hi @srobinson

That's a fantastic recommendation for the sprinkler system. Let me tag @Kris2 to make sure they see your suggestion. Will the Pope Micro Mini Spinner work in this kind of setup?

Eric

[Kris2]

Great thanks for the advice

[srobinson]

Hi @EricL, 

Thanks for that.

The Pope Micro spinners wouldn't be suitable for this kind of set-up as they have a full circle radius, so would need to be placed on the middle of the lawn and mounted on risers. An alternative would be mounting the poly tube on the fence and using Shrub Head type sprinklers. 

Technically you could even mount the poly tube on the fence and use Microjet type sprinklers, but the spray is very fine (so they would need to be left on for a long time) and they have a fairly limited radius, so I wouldn't recommend this option.

Hopefully that helps?

Simon