Homemade Lawn Irrigation

[PineHillLawn]

I have a customer that has a vegetable garden in her back yard that I mow around. A few weeks ago I noticed it wasn't looking to well. I asked if she would be interested in a irriagtion system, one that comes on automatically to where the only time she has to mess with it is if she wants to put plant feed on the veggies or when shes ready to harvest them. She said yeah, can that be done! I told her an inexpensive way, is to use small pvc pipe and drill holes at the location of each plant so it gets watered every day at the same time with a timer. She asked how much I gave her a bid of $250 and she jumped on it faster than a cat on a mouse. I spent $30 on the digital timer and a little over $30 on the PVC. I put it in about an hour and a half, drilled 1/16" holes at each plant location and turned the water on. It works great! The thing has been on now for 2 week and it's showing a noticeable improvement on the veggies. I also buried the pvc in the ground so it can be mowed over, and put a relieve valve on for winter months. I left it all unglued to make it easy to repair or change if need be.

---

Last edited by PineHillLawn; 05-23-2012 at 10:16 AM.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Lawn care business tips

looks good.... Now a few questions. Why did you run the pvc underground? Wouldnt it have been easier to attach a hose there? Is this any cheaper then a soaker hose?

__________________
South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping /Lawn Care /Pressure Washing /Snow Removal /Gutter Cleaning
52" Brutus/52" Super Surfer/44" Pro Line/60" ZMaster
EB630/EB802/EBZ7150/EBZ8000/BR400/Billy Goat 8Hp
FS55&90/FC95/km110/L322&326/TR2350S
HC150/HC155/CHTZ2460
CS440/MS290
Case 1816 Skid

[PineHillLawn]

Originally Posted by SECTLANDSCAPING

looks good....

Now a few questions.

Why did you run the pvc underground? Wouldnt it have been easier to attach a hose there?

Is this any cheaper then a soaker hose?

I ran the PVC underground so it wouldn't be in the way when mowing plus she would have to drag the hose out if it ever becomes disconnected, due to using it somewhere else, and if forgotten, water will go everywhere except the garden. The PVC also feeds off to another Flower bed she has planted, providing water to two areas at the same time. As for a soaker hose, yeah it would be cheaper, but I would have ran into the same issue with a garden hose having to be rolled up when mowing plus the way the rows are planted a few of the plants wouldn't get enough water, and soaker hoses don't last as long as this will. With it hooked up the way it is, she can head off to work at 6:00 and at 6:15 the timer will kick on for 20-30 minutes, providing water to each plant plus that in her flower bed, and she'll never have to lift a finger.

[willshome]

don't forget to bill for blowing the system out with air at the end of the year

[PineHillLawn]

Originally Posted by willshome

don't forget to bill for blowing the system out with air at the end of the year

Thats the beauty of making it all come apart. I showed her how to pull it all apart and put it away for the winter.

[Island Lawn Care]

good work. looks like it works great bud but.........did u know PVC deteriorates from the sun? it will be brittle in a few years to come. sorry......but good work! great idea!

[PineHillLawn]

Originally Posted by Island Lawn Care

good work. looks like it works great bud but.........did u know PVC deteriorates from the sun? it will be brittle in a few years to come. sorry......but good work! great idea!

I did the same thing for my flower bed at home over 5 years ago and it still works great. The guy I got the idea from is a plumber friend of mine, who did it 10 years ago in his garden, and it still gets used to this day. I don't know if it gets brittle but I haven't have any issues with the two I know of.