Hey there Brett... and I thought our ho assoc restrictions were strict... we have to have an underground sprinkler system... and we have to use it... no brown grass allowed, aka no warm season grasses allowed either.

So are you thinking about running pipe on top of your lawn?! OR are we taking laying out a garden house from time to time?

I would just get one those garden tractor sprinklers that follows the path of the hose... about $60 at HD i think.

WOW - Trust me when I say I would not mind that restriction ;)

I have one of the lawn tractors and it is pretty cool, but you have to watch it so you can pull the hose so it does the whole lawn (close to about 2.5 house to do the back and come around one of the sides - I have it set to slow).

But to answer your comment. Due to the woods on the back of our property I can get away with pipes, but I do forsee garden hoses going around (which will not lay on the ground but be supported somehow).

My biggest goal is to have something that will water my new seed automatically for a couple of reasons. My work schedule does not permit me to manually follow the best schedule, also we are due to go on vacation around the second week of the seed going in.

So the PGP heads look like they could cover my lawn, but can they be used above ground somehow? Can valves be used above ground?

Anyway thanks for the reply, and now you have my wife up in arms about our own HOA .... ;)

- Brett

Ahhh... vacation and new grass seed.. I see the issue now. Yeah, the PGP is a great rotor, just need to support it with rigid pipe so that she doesn't flop around while watering, and valves don't mind being above ground either. Don't see a need for a vacuum breaker as there would be no chance of water siponing into the system. My first fear would be asetics... I have this ugly picture in my mind of what such a contraption may look like.... wiring hanging to each pipe, ect. Are you sure you don't want to get a hose timer and some cheappee sprinkers. Or maybe have the neighbor kid do some watering. Perhaps you could 'sneak' some underground heads in under cover of darkness.

Fantastic information, really! At the very least I need a controller and some valves in order to distribute my water pressure nicely and on the correct timings; and with that being said 'in for a penny, in for a pound!'.

Depending on the layout I may not have that many hoses going across the actual lawn. I am putting pea gravel around the most of the house and I can lay hoses on that. I will also use quick connects.

Thanks for your replies, great useful information.

- Brett

I'm sure you've solved it by now, but just in case... I bought a WATER MONSTER three years ago. It is a 6-valve above-ground controller that requires one hose fitting in, one plug-in electrical connection and one battery. It allows for up to six hoses out. I cover a 150x175 property using a combination of sprinkler spikes, oscillating sprinkers and even a 'whirly-gig'. It starts at whatever time you want, each zone is timed separately and you can control days-of-week. I even rigged a rain sensor, so that when it's been raining within the last 24 hours, the sprinklers don't go on.

Kind of solved the problem in my head, but not physically - I have a couple of weeks before the seed goes in, and a month and a half before vacation :) So I should be acting quick.

Thanks for the info, I will go Google that now.

- Brett

Sorry to bud in on your topic but I've run into a similar problem. I don't have the cash to have a system installed at the moment but, this Texas heat is not only taking it's toll on the yard but me too! I usually have to move a standard sprinkler around the yard numerous times to cover everything. A long time ago I remember seeing a house that had some kind of homemade contraption with 4 or 5 sprinkers on it. It appeared to merely be white PVC that would allow it to be moved around the yard. Just curious if there is anywhere that I can read about building one of these. I'm sure it's really simple, I just don't wanna do it blindly.

Thanks much,
Robert

If you dont mind me asking, I am just curious why your homeowners association will not allow an underground system? That type of mentality just promotes the use of ugly garden hoses traversing a persons propery. Eric

If you dont mind me asking, I am just curious why your homeowners association will not allow an underground system? That type of mentality just promotes the use of ugly garden hoses traversing a persons propery. Eric

Hey guys, you should check out this thread over in the lawn care forum. Some people have been discussing ways to set up an automatic sprinkler system using hoses and timers.

If you scroll almost to the bottom of the page I have posted some pictures and a short video of the system I set up. I'm using a timer mounted in my garage that connects to valves placed by the front and back spigots. The valves are connected to the spigots, and then I've run garden hose out to heads I buried in the lawn. The hose is also buried just under the surface of the lawn.

I purchase all the parts at Lowes or HD in the irrigation dept., the timer I bought off ebay.

Hope this helps out.

Here is a link that might be useful: sprinkler thread

an underground irrigation system is not practical for me. Although my yard is small it has lots of trees with large roots. Hoses would work fine with sprinklers but some varmints (squirrels, probably) keep chewing up the hoses. Any suggestions?

over the years i have dug over 10 trenches i have hoses and prinkler heads from various stores.. the problem is husband keeps breakin them of witn various things I really only need the heads about 8 and a timer All the hoses are under the soil and still work Think u can help

Susan,

Please explain in more detail what you want to achieve. Aloha

You may want to consider using hard top sprinklers or all brass sprinkler heads. They are more durable than the plastic ones and can generally withstand various types of lawn equipment and higher traffic areas.

Here is a link that might be useful: hard top sprinklers

Hi. Ground squirrels biting holes, severing underground irrigation hoses. Have to fix 2 today. How do I stop that from happening (if that's possible? thx

larry,

Sulfur bombs. I would use pvc for anything underground in your case. JMHO Aloha