Installation of pop up sprinklers for the lawns

The pop up sprinklers are type of overhead sprinklers that rise from the ground whenever the system is activated (when the pump is activated) to release water in a circular manner, and then retract back down when the system is turned off. For good installation of pop up sprinklers, one has to understand the following factors:

• Quantity of water required for a lawn.

Most lawns need about three centimetres of water per week. Though some compounds are different. Sandy soils may require more water but heavy soils require less water. It’s best to water deeply and infrequently heavy soils to ensure percolation rates are catered for.

• Appropriate time of lawn watering

Morning is the best time to irrigate your lawn. Midday watering when the sun is high should be avoided to prevent water loss by evaporation.

Watering in the evening increases the risk of disease, because grass stays damp all night. These diseases are mostly fungal related diseases.

• Watering newly planted lawns

Newly planted lawns need more frequent irrigation than established lawns. Depending on the weather, new lawns may need to be watered daily.

Water enough to keep the soil moist, but not too wet. Over watering can wash away seeds, make seeds rot, cause disease, or slow the growth of grass.

Pop up sprinklers installation procedure

Lawn irrigation systems consist of timers, valves, underground piping and their fittings, and sprinkler heads

Steps on installing pop up sprinklers

• Level your lawn area to ensure plain and beautiful landscape when your lawn sprouts
• Select a sprinkler based on yard size and shape. This can be done by taking running lengths of the lawn then dividing by the wetting radius of the pop up sprinkler available.
• Using spades and jembes or any ground breaking tool, cut the ditches in which the piping system will pass through.
• Lay down the underground pipe in a straight manner taking into consideration the location of the sprinkler.
• Cut the underground pipe at exact position according to your design and install the pop up sprinkler.
• After the sprinkler head installation turn on your pump system to flush out the main pipe to remove debris that may have found their way into main line then close the end of the pipe using end cap
• Try to supply a uniform amount of water to the entire lawn. You can monitor this by placing containers at various points beneath the sprinkler’s pattern.
• Measure the quantity of water captured in each container and overlap sprinkler patterns to supply the entire lawn with a uniform quantity of water.

• Using the data obtained above, program your timer to water in cycles. Heavy soils and slopes sometimes can’t absorb water fast enough. Thus to prevent it from running off, program your timer to water for several shorter periods, with about an hour in between, to let the water soak into the soil.
• Adjust your irrigation system based on current weather. There’s no point in watering during a heavy rain, for example. Soil can only absorb so much water at once.
• Change your watering schedule with the season. Your lawn needs less water during the rainy season, than it does during the dry season.