Quote:
Originally Posted by downeaster
I have owned Florida lawns for 33 plus years. I have installed sprinkler systems, I have repaired them and I have adjusted them. Based on my experience I have become concerned about the advice given by lawn mowing and lawn treatment "professionals".
They persist in telling their customers to irrigate for a specified time. They do this with no knowledge of the output of the sprinkler heads or areas covered. Example: If you have two identical oscillating heads on the same zone and one is set to cover a 90 degree arc and the other is set to cover a 180 degree arc, it stands to reason the first will deliver two times as much water to the area it covers as the other. The obvious solution is replace one or both nozzles. Adjusting the time will only result in underwatering one area or over watering the other.
The object of irrigating is to get the proper amount (in inches) for the conditions and the type of grass. I like to get between 3/4" anf 1" each time I irrigate. To reach this goal I use rain gauges. ( Any straight side receptacle will suffice. Tuna cans are good. Place them in numerous places around your lawn to get a good read. Once you have done that you adjust outflow by changing nozzles and/or replacing pop-up heads, and run times, to give you the required results. This may take a few cycles to get proper results.
If replacing and adjusting is a chore you would not like to do then hire a pro. Get recomendations and when he is through do the measuring drill I outlined above. He will get your lawn covered but I can almost guarantee it will be spotty. There may be some spots where there is overlap and over watering that area is inevitable.
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Excellent post. It is not about the TIME...it is about coverage and amounts.
I'll only add that I like the newer Hunter MP Rotator nozzles. Much is dependent as to how your system is laid out. One should avoid having rotors and sprayers on the same zone, as you will get over/under watering because the rotors oscillate as the sprayers are constant. This can be "somewhat" controlled by the nozzles in the rotors.
Frank