I think I have my wife talked into the need for an irrigation system.

Thought I would love to DIY, that's really not an option right now. My plan is to go talk to the guys at Lesco and ask them to give me a referral to a local contractor.

I THINK what I want is to do the 15000 sqft front and sides now and expand it into the back at some time in the future. The back may be getting a pool or additional beds at some point so I dont want to put sprinklers back there until I figure that out. In front I have beds with trees, shrubs and perrenials and I am thinking that I wont need to irrigate those. I think once they are mature, they should be ok on their own.

Any advice for me as I start the process of talking to contractors? Must haves? Things to stay away from? Thanks

My suggestion is to make sure that you don't cut just a few dollars by using a lower-diameter supply pipe. Larger-diameter supply lines mean that you maintain good pressure and volume at the sprinkler heads.

My advice, measure twice,cut once. Plan,plan,plan,then purchase and install.

I was actually very surprised at how inexpensive many of the parts were, when I purchased them online.

If going the contractor route, ask to see several of their installs. Ask the homeowners if they mind letting you see it run.

Look for head to head coverage. Look for grass that is stressed.

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I'm taking a hybrid approach. My contractor will pull all the lateral poly pipe and install the main tap from the house, pvb and certify it (which is required here). My job will be to install the main line, valves, heads, and lateral connections, controller, and everything else. I am estimating about a 50% savings by doing the work that I'm comfortable with.

I have a contractor coming out Friday morning to discuss. Here's a couple of questions for those with systems. Do you use them in your landscape beds for perenials, trees and shrubs? If so, how? How do you use your system on the lawn? Once a week at 1"? Or more often. If you have an ez flow system, what do you put in it? Any other advice, suggestions or questions for the contractor would be appreciated.

I have 7200 sq ft of turf. Just got a quote to install a Hunter system for $2,800. Seems a bit high. Also, I used the Orbit system designer on the Home Depot website and the part list came out to just over $2,000. Are there cheaper retailers online? Anyone have any suggestions?

schreibdave wrote:I have a contractor coming out Friday morning to discuss. Here's a couple of questions for those with systems. Do you use them in your landscape beds for perenials, trees and shrubs? If so, how? How do you use your system on the lawn? Once a week at 1"? Or more often. If you have an ez flow system, what do you put in it? Any other advice, suggestions or questions for the contractor would be appreciated.

Mine was self-installed, but I have two garden zones--front and back--that service my annual/perennial beds. Those are microsprays (the annuals move year by year), drip, and umbrella drip. Two zones serves 2,000 square feet of garden very well.

There's a third manually connected line on the back Thuja. I use that fairly rarely, though, as watering the lawn supplies enough for them for the most part. It's great for hooking up the EZ-Flo and injecting a feed.

I water less often than once a week, but 1" at a time. Depending on your soil type and organic matter levels, your mileage will seriously differ on watering intervals.

The EZ-Flo takes anything that's water-soluble. Kelp, humates, soil conditioner, feedings...

I'm getting my parts from Sprinkler Warehouse: http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/Default.asp

I've had a lot of good experience with them. I don't often comment on specific vendors, but they are good folks.

No $#!t, my buddy just ordered $900 in heads, valves, and a controller from sprinkler warehouse.

There is a very popular irrigation store that supplies most contractors around here, but also sells to the public. The same order placed above was almost $1800!

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+1 above. I like them too. Except for some stuff for the gardens (specialty sprayers and the like), almost everything came from Sprinkler Warehouse.