IS IRRIGATION PRACTICAL FOR your lawn or garden? There are a number of factors to consider before this question can be answered. The idea of irrigation brings to mind many different methods. While one person may think of a simple lawn sprinkler and garden hose, someone else may envision pop-up lawn sprinklers, while yet another person might conjure an image of big hoses and pulsating nozzles spraying water for 100 feet. Irrigation methods and sources vary vastly, so deciding if a particular system is practical for your purpose requires a personal look at individual circumstances.
Unrolling a garden hose and connecting a sprinkler to it is something almost anyone can do. However, installing an underground sprinkler system with automatic controls and pop-up heads is quite a bit more expensive and definitely more complicated. Money is a key element in deciding on an irrigation system. After evaluating your needs, you may decide that investing a lot of cash in such equipment is a waste of your time and money. This chapter is going to help you sort out the mysteries surrounding irrigation decisions.
To get the best system you can afford, you have to do some advance planning, which is the key to a successful irrigation system that won’t soak up all of your cash flow. One question to consider is whether or not you will need to borrow money.
One step is to design your dream system and then see if you can afford it. You may find that you’ve researched and planned a system that you can’t afford, which is why it is wise to review your finances first and determine how much you can spend.
There are other factors to consider besides the cost of equipment, labor, and operating expenses. Can you justify spending a thousand dollars on an irrigation system that will be used only a couple of weeks a year? Can you justify to a lender that the improvement is worth its price? If gardening is your hobby, can you justify the cost as a hobby expense?
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t or can’t install an irrigation system if the numbers don’t work, but it’s necessary to have the needed information to make a sound decision. In view of this, let’s run through some sample situations so that you can see how to evaluate the cost of your new system.
Assume that you own a suburban home with a one-quarter acre of lawn. Your home is supplied with city water. In past years, you’ve watered your lawn with a standard lawn sprinkler and garden hose, but now you find that taking time out of your busy schedule to monitor the watering is bothersome. You want an irrigation system that will not consume so much time and attention.
In reflecting on past summers, you remember that your lawn needs watering about eight weeks out of the year to keep it lush. There have been times when your municipality has invoked watering bans, but these times are few and far between. Certainly not often enough to justify the construction of a cistern or the drilling of an irrigation well. All you want is a simple way to water your lawn in a uniform fashion that will not eat away at your time. What are your options?
Option 1. You could opt for additional water hoses and sprinklers so that the entire lawn could be watered at one time. This, of course, is the least expensive option, but there are drawbacks. Having several hoses and sprinklers spread about your lawn will create an eyesore and require a lot of time setting them up and putting them away each day during the watering season. Since time is what you are trying to save, this approach is not very appealing.
Option 2. You could invest in a walking sprinkler, one that moves as it waters your lawn. The cost is modest, and you would need only one hose and one sprinkler. But, you’d still have to haul it in and out of the yard, and you’d have to be around to control the water flow to your lawn.
Option 3. You could install an underground sprinkler system. You’ve checked out these dream systems carefully and have fallen in love with the pop-up sprinkler heads, the automatic timer, and all the other goodies that go with the system. This is what you want, but you’re not sure if you should spring for the major expense.
Decision time. If money were the only factor in these examples, multiple hoses and sprinklers would be the best option. However, money isn’t the prime consideration; time is. The walking sprinkler is a fair compromise between the ultimate watering system and the simplest. Your heart is leading you to the underground system, but your bank account is forcing you to give serious consideration to the walking sprinkler.
During your evaluation, you look at the fact that your lawn is not very large. At first glance, the size of the area to be watered points to a walking sprinkler. On the other hand, since the yard isn’t very big, the cost of installing an underground system wouldn’t be staggering. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Upon further research, you take into consideration that many of the homes in your area are equipped with pop-up sprinkler heads. Ah, there’s some justification. Installing an underground system would enhance the value of your home and keep the exterior appearance on par with the other homes along your street. Before making a commitment, you talk with neighbors who have underground systems. They all love their sprinklers. You’re almost sold.
Attaching multiple hoses and sprinklers to outdoor faucets is the most inexpensive way to water an entire lawn, but it also creates an eyesore. Setting up the individual sprinklers and adjusting them every day is time-consuming as well. If you want to save time and improve the look of your lawn, you may want to consider installing an underground sprinkler system.
In the final phase of the decision-making process, you weigh other considerations. You don’t plan to sell your home in the foreseeable future. If you were going to sell, it might make more sense to stick with a mobile system you could take with you, such as the walking sprinkler. Since time and appearance are of great concern to you, the nod goes to the underground sprinklers. You also rationalize that a sprinkler system will be more efficient than a hose sprinkler because you can carefully control the time and amount of watering, which will save you money each time the lawn is watered. You’re getting very close to a commitment.
Justifying the cost. After pricing a complete underground system the cost is a little shocking. However, you decide that by installing the system yourself, the cost is bearable.
The determining factor in coming to a conclusion is how often the system will be used. If you average eight weeks a year, as you have in the past, the convenience of the underground system seems worth the cost. So, you buy the materials and install them.
This example is a fairly accurate account of how a decision might be reached about the type of irrigation system to install. Once you know what type of system you want, it is just a matter of finding enough good reasons to take the plunge. In this case, all of the supporting excuses for buying the most expensive system were good enough. But, suppose the system was to be used only two weeks each year. Could the decision still be made to install an underground system? It could be, but the justification would be lacking to some extent.
Now let’s look at a second example. In this situation, you love growing a vegetable garden each summer. You live in the country and the water to your house is supplied by a shallow well. During extremely dry periods, you must be careful not to run your well dry. Every year you water your garden with a garden hose when possible. It is your desire to create a better irrigation system for watering the vegetables. There is one problem: You only have $500 for a system.
In the last example, we focused on a desirable system first and then considered the cost. For this scenario, we are going to start with the available budget and work from that figure. What type of irrigation system can you create for $500 or less?
Cost considerations. Considering the amount of money available, several irrigation options are out. You can’t afford to dig or drill a well. You could, however, have a driven well. Assuming you can hit water and obtain a satisfactory quantity, a driven point is inexpensive to install.
What are your other options? Running water from your home has been a problem: the well cannot always meet the demands of irrigation on top of your home water supply needs. One cost-effective idea is a cistern. A cistern, installed close to the garden plot, would do a bang-up job of watering all of your plants.
With a cistern, you can be assured of having water when you want it. The expense of building a cistern depends largely on whether you build it yourself — and the materials you choose to use — or whether you buy it. You could spend a lot of money on a custom-made masonry cistern, or you could take a cheaper route and purchase a used, aboveground swimming pool. Even some new pools will fit your budget. It is also possible that you could excavate an in-ground cistern for less than what your budget allows.
An inexpensive cistern. In this example, let’s assume that you have ruled out the well point. You are considering a cistern; more specifically, a used swimming pool. I’ve seen aboveground pools advertised by owners who were willing to give them away to anyone who would disassemble the pool and haul it away. You can’t beat a free cistern. New swimming pools to fit your needs are available for less than $200, which still leaves you with $300.
In addition to the pool, you will need a pump, a source of electricity, some pipe, and a distribution system. Having the cistern close to the garden allows you to use an inexpensive effluent (sump) pump, which costs less than $50. The pipe, even for a fairly long run, can be purchased for less than $25. So far you have spent $275 on your system.
Running electricity to the pump can be as simple as connecting a heavy-duty contractor-type extension cord between your house and the pump. Expect to spend about $30 for this. If the garden is more than 100 feet from your house, a good outdoor-grade sheathed wire, like you would use for a well pump, should be used. Even so, the cost will be under $50. You now have spent a total of $325. The only other thing you need is a distribution system.
Polybutylene (PB) piping is very inexpensive and extremely effective in irrigation uses. I use it almost exclusively in all of my plumbing jobs. A ½-inch PB pipe costs 220 per foot. Even with a large garden, it is unlikely that you would use more than 300 feet of piping to distribute your water. If you round the numbers up to $25 per 100-foot roll, the cost of 300 feet is only $75. Now you are at a total of $400 for your irrigation system. After throwing in a few miscellaneous fittings, you may hit a grand total of $425, which still is well within your $500 budget. See how easy this is?
An inexpensive cistern watering system can be made from a used swimming pool with an effluent (sump) pump. Set the pool up close to the garden so that the pump’s power is adequate for meeting the garden’s water needs.
You now have seen two different approaches to planning a budget for your irrigation system. I’m sure you can come up with some variations, but the examples should give you some insight into how you can have an adequate irrigation system.
As you probably know, money is not the only factor to be considered when thinking of an irrigation system. Physical limitations play a large role in what is and is not feasible.
Topography limitations can be an obstacle when planning an irrigation system. For instance, at the site of the new home I’m building, my irrigation need is to water our horses. The barn is about 250 feet away from the house. Carrying water to the barn from the house is not a fun prospect, especially in subzero temperatures and three feet of snow. I want to install a bury-hydrant at the barn in order to have running water all through the year, but I have a problem.
The topography of my land is not conducive to a uniform trench. Dips in the land mean that in order to lay pipe below the frost line, which is four feet deep in this part of the state, I will have to lay it nearly seven feet deep in some places. In addition to this, the land is laden with rocks and bedrock. As much as I want a buried, year-round water line to the barn, I may not be able to have it. This same type of problem can crop up when you are planning your irrigation system.
In an earlier example, I mentioned a farmer who was considering an in-ground cistern. If the land around the garden plot was like my land, solid rock, an in-ground cistern would not be feasible, unless blasting were to take place. Blasting is an expensive proposition, and usually is not a justifiable expense for small-scale irrigation systems.
Covenants and restrictions in the deed to your property may stipulate what can and cannot be constructed on the property. For instance, my parents are limited in the colors they can use to paint the exterior of their home and restricted by the types of vehicles they can park in their driveway, among other things. These types of recorded restrictions can limit your options greatly, and, as mentioned earlier, need to be researched before choosing any irrigation system.
When investigating your irrigation options, try to consider as many elements as possible. Will the system freeze, creating a need for a system that can be removed before winter? Are there any underground utilities in the path of your irrigation system that might cause a problem? Is an overhead irrigation system for your garden a good idea? Would a cistern make an ideal water source for your needs? How much is it going to cost to use metered city water for your irrigation purposes? As you can see, there are countless questions to ask, and ask you should. It is your job to plan, design, develop, and install the most effective system within your budget.
As mentioned earlier, the frequency of use should be a factor in considering how much money to invest in an irrigation system. Obviously, where you live will play a big part in how often you rely on irrigation equipment to keep your grass green and your corn tall. Some places are hotter and drier than others. In Maine, irrigation is negligible: Hot weather usually invades the state only for a few weeks each year, and the rainfall rate in Maine is high. Virginia, on the other hand, where I grew up, is much hotter and drier. I can remember it being so hot during summer months that the tar on the roads would melt and stick to the bottoms of my shoes. The garden soil would turn to dust. Grass would burn and turn brown from the heat. There was a definite need for irrigation.
What’s a puny watermelon to anyone? So what if it’s been hot and dry and the melon patch shrivels and dies? Who cares? Well, to a lot of people, gardening is very important. Professional farmers must make the most of their crops, but why are homeowners so concerned about their gardens? Really, if you look at a small vegetable garden with a feasibility study, it’s hard to justify. When you factor in all the money spent on tilling the soil, buying seeds, and adding growing agents, how much money is saved when compared to buying vegetables from the local grocer? Continue the study by putting a value on the time you work in the garden, and the justification dwindles. Since a small garden is probably not a profitable venture to begin with, why would anyone spend additional money on an irrigation system? There can only be one reason: personal satisfaction.
Lawns and gardens are therapeutic for many people. If you come home from a stressful day at the office, an hour in your garden can relax and refresh you. It restores your perspective on life and takes you back in time, to a simpler life. You can achieve a similar feeling as you sit in the shade and admire the lush lawn that rivals the best putting greens around. Your green thumb has created something of which you are proud, something that you enjoy, and something that only you understand best. If you share these types of feelings, an irrigation system should be in your future.