09/06/10

You're now ready to pencil in the sprinkler head locations on your drawing. Hallelujah! I know it seems like it took a long time to get here, but to do a good job we needed to cover a lot of background information! Use a pencil to draw in the sprinkler heads so you can easily make adjustments to the locations later. Many people find it helpful to use a compass to draw a light pencil line showing the radius of water throw for each head.

Remember these tips:

* Keep the distance as uniform as possible between heads. To the extent possible a sprinkler should be equal distance from the adjacent sprinkler in each direction (forming a triangle if possible). Changes in spacing between adjacent sprinklers should be made as a gradual transition when possible.

* Try to position heads so that if you were to draw a straight line between adjacent heads they would form an equilateral triangle (each side of triangle is same length). This is called "triangular spacing" and creates more even water coverage than "square spacing" (ie; lines between 4 heads form a square). That said, you will often be unable to form a triangle so don't panic if you can't.

* Don't stretch the spacings, use "head to head" spacing. Using too many sprinkler heads is seldom a problem, using too few sprinklers heads is ALWAYS a disaster!

* Start by drawing a sprinkler in each corner. Next, draw sprinklers around the perimeter of the irrigated area, watching that they are not too far apart (one more time, better too many than too few!). Adjust the locations to make the spacing between sprinklers as even as possible. After the perimeters are done, then draw the sprinklers in the interior area.

* If the sprinklers need to overlap so that the spray from one head goes over and beyond the next that's OK. While you don't want to over-water, it is always easier to correct an over watered area than a under watered one. For example, you can use the radius adjustments on the sprinklers to cut down the water in the over-irrigated areas. If need be you can even remove or relocate a sprinkler later. It's much easier to remove one than to add one!

* Sprinklers that are placed closer than 6 feet apart need some special consideration. Standard spray-type sprinklers don't work well if the radius is adjusted below 6 feet. (The opening the water goes through is so tiny that the normal expansion of the plastic or metal on a warm evening can close off the water flow!) If the area is long and narrow (4' wide or less), use the strip pattern nozzles. I prefer the so called "side-strip" type that you place along the edge of the area, they have better patterns than the center strip nozzles. End-strip nozzles have notoriously bad patterns, they shouldn't be more than 10' from the next head! When using standard spray sprinklers (like quarter, half, and full circles) in areas where the radius must be adjusted to less than 6 feet use a "pressure compensating device" to reduce the radius. The pressure compensating device is normally installed under the nozzle where it reduces the flow and pressure through the nozzle. The good news is that by using a under sized pressure compensating device you can also reduce the nozzle radius! Unlike the adjustment screw on the nozzle these devices work well regardless of the temperature. However, you will need to select the proper size pressure compensating device for each nozzle. It is possible that every nozzle will need a different size! To select the right device you use a special chart provided by the pressure compensating device's manufacturer. The chart will tell you exactly which device you must use with each different nozzle in order to get the radius you want. Most major sprinkler manufacturer's make pressure compensating devices for their spray sprinklers, and the charts you need can be found in their catalogs. You may need to go to a commercial sprinkler supplier to find them.

Study the example drawing below.

Uniformity is good!

Again, notice that the radius of each sprinkler's spray goes all the way to the next sprinkler! This is critical.

Note that in the example above only the lawn area outlined with a green curving edge is being watered. The area between the lawn (green line) and the edge of the property (brown line) would most likely be planted with shrubs and irrigated separately from the lawn. In most cases a drip system would be considered for watering the shrubs as it is less expensive and more efficient. See the separate guidelines for designing drip irrigation systems.

Bonus landscape design tip: Creating a border of shrubs around the perimeter of your yard is, in most cases, a good landscape design practice. A shrub border helps to reduce the visual impact of the fence (assuming that like most residential properties you have a fence.) Shrubs also typically use less than half the water of lawn areas of the same size, saving money spent for water. Once a month you need to weed and trim shrub areas, as opposed to the lawn that needs to be mowed every other week at the least in summer. A border using shrubs of various sizes, textures and colors can add greatly to the attractiveness of your yard. Place smaller shrubs near the lawn, with larger growing varieties behind them next to the fence.

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