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sprinkler for slope

16 years ago

if my lawn will be 18' x 30 ft.. it slopes down 2-3 feet on the 18' side. I am putting in all new sprinklers and pipes. What do I need to watch out for? Spacing....? In regards to brand, I think rainbird is quite good. Do you think I need any sprinklers in the middle or just the perimeter is ok?

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User
16 years ago
Check the irrigation tutorials for a whole lot of information (I included the link below).

Generally, an 11% to 16% grade is going to have runoff issues, although not horrible ones unless you have solid, impenetrable clay. My back yard features a 16% (on average, rising to nearly 30%) grade into a swale, so gravity pulls water down the slope fairly easily. The top tends toward slightly dry, the bottom damp to wet.

Angle also matters. If that faces north or east, you can irrigate it a bit less as the sun doesn't strike it as directly. South or west and it requires more because it tilts into the sun during the warm part of the day.

Do you think I need any sprinklers in the middle or just the perimeter is ok?

The tutorals always say that irrigation must be head to head (the water from one sprinkler must touch the heads of the other sprinklers). I went closer because I have a lot of wind--in some cases, the overlap is fully 30% of the sprinkler's distance.

The other rule he gives is that distance in feet = pressure in PSI. If you have 30 PSI, heads must be no more than 30 feet apart. 50 PSI can get you 50 feet.

I'm assuming you have at least 30 PSI (which would be a little low for city water), so you may very well not need a center rotor. Read the tutorials to make sure, though.

I think rainbird is quite good.

Sounds good to me. I used Hunter for no particular reason save that I liked the information availability. Rainbird is certainly a well-regarded name. From what I hear, avoid Toro.

Here is a link that might be useful: Irrigation Tutorials
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