Each owner of a summer cottage, garden or vegetable garden is familiar with such an ordinary procedure as watering a lawn and plants. This is a rather time-consuming task that takes a lot of time. Things get complicated if the plot is really large. But what if you have the opportunity to make your life easier?
What is automatic lawn watering?
In a nutshell, this is the dream of every owner of a summer cottage. Such a system saves money and water, in addition, it gives much needed free time, without which it is simply impossible to rest normally. But it is precisely for this that people leave the city.
For people who constantly live in summer cottages, turning temporary houses into cozy cottages, the automatic lawn watering system will save a lot of time. In addition, it will give the lawn a healthy and beautiful look that you really want to admire.
Benefits of Automatic Watering
Such systems that provide watering the lawn have a lot of advantages. But here it is worth describing only the main ones:
- Watering will be carried out evenly and with all necessary technologies. A person is not involved in the process.
- Installing equipment is very simple - you can invite specialists or do it yourself.
- Sectoral irrigation can also be adjusted. Thus, water will not enter buildings.
- Automatic watering the lawn can be equipped with additional devices.
- This saves your energy, reduces energy and water consumption. The latter occurs due to a clear cycle.
- Autowatering can be configured so that watering is carried out more often on dry days, and less often during rain.
- The system can be equipped with a heating unit, which can also be adjusted to maintain the desired water temperature.
DIY system
How to make lawn watering with your own hands? A large-scale project should be carried out by a competent and trained specialist, but such work can be done by an ordinary person, if he has clear instructions for work.
It is in this order that the further text will be written - in the form of step-by-step thorough instructions, following which you can fully assemble an automatic watering system. This instruction consists of three steps.
The first step is a plan
It’s worth starting with the basics, that is, with the plan. There are reasons for this - the lawn watering system is a very large-scale project, and it requires careful planning. First you should buy equipment for watering the lawn. Yes, you should also consider what exactly you need to buy and in what quantity. Next, you will need to make a list of actions - this makes it possible to understand how much work awaits you, which means whether you need to attract one or more pairs of hands, etc.
It is also important to think about planning the irrigation scheme itself - graph paper (plain drawing paper) is perfect for this purpose. On it, apply a schematic plan of all structures and zones located on the site. This will include buildings, paths, as well as green spaces, flower beds and more. Naturally, it is best to start work with the acquisition of the site - this will allow you not to damage existing structures and plants. That is, it will also be necessary to plan how the plants and lawn will be planted. Thus, you can make a system for watering the lawn with your own hands, and exactly as you need.
The diagram shows the source of water, as well as the location of the pump - it is best that such a source is approximately in the middle of the site. This will allow stretching the lines evenly, which means that the automatic lawn watering system will work with the same pressure in all areas. From the pump on paper lines are carried out, as well as their branches. Sprinklers, i.e. sprinklers, are marked on these lines. They may differ in radius of action, and therefore you must first select them, and then make a diagram. On it, you outline the coverage area of all sprinklers. Each group of watering heads needs a separate electrovalve.
The second step is to purchase the necessary
Once the scheme is ready, and you understand how the lawn will be watered at your site, you can proceed with the purchase of the necessary materials. For the vast majority of systems, materials such as:
- pump for water intake;
- pipes;
- parts for connection;
- sprinklers;
- pipe pressure regulators;
- Filters
- solenoid valves;
- necessary tool for digging the ground;
- controllers.
All of the above details are absolutely necessary. For example, a pumping station must be carefully selected depending on the size of the land - the larger it is, the more water will be needed. Filters are needed to purify water from home-made wells, otherwise sprinklers, or even the pipes themselves, will very quickly become worthless. A pressure regulator will be needed for a system where sprinklers will be used with different pressures, or irrigation will be carried out by drip. Controllers and electrovalves are one of the most important parts of the system simply because they control the irrigation modes. Pipes are also worth choosing carefully. They can be of several types - this can be consulted in the store.
Preparation and installation
What is the job of installing a system such as automatic lawn watering?
The equipment will be installed in several stages:
- pumping station;
- ditching;
- pipe laying;
- connection of the system to the pump;
- installation of sprinklers;
- installation of controllers, valves, regulators of the movement of sprinklers, filters, etc .;
- setup, controller programming and system testing.
- launch.
After performing these works, if you approach everything with sufficient care, you will end up with a real watering system. The description is quite brief, but this is enough to understand in what order the work should be done.
Subtleties and nuances
There are several simple rules that you must follow in order for the system to work correctly and serve you for a long time:
- Firstly, you need to monitor the filters, checking their condition once every two weeks.
- The rest of the system also needs to be checked, but already half as often.
- From time to time you will have to eliminate soil subsidence.
- At the beginning of the season, batteries need to be replaced, but in the winter it would be better to remove them.
- If the system is conserved, then there should not be water there.
- It is better to dismantle electrovalves before cold weather.
- The same thing must be done with humidity and temperature sensors.
Subtleties and in watering
Here are some tips:
- How often to water the lawn? It is best every evening or every other day, and on dry days in the morning.
- The soil is considered to be sufficiently moist if the water has penetrated even to a depth of half a meter (you can go deep to only thirty centimeters).
- Avoid excess water.
- It is not recommended to water the lawn with an open stream.
- During wet weather, watering can be done once a week or once every three days.