Choosing a Sprinkler System for Your Lawn

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If you have some big bucks to spare and are willing to spend some time comparison shopping, it's not necessarily a bad idea. For a beautiful green lawn, my first choice would be an ancient Roman slave in a toga, but my second choice would be the sprinkler. However be forewarned. Sprinklers are not simple, and if badly installed or poorly designed they will become a permanent maintenance pain. Let's begin with the options: Surface Drip Systems though short-lived, are cheapest and easiest to install. They're most useful for shrub beds, vegetables and flower borders. The easiest is soaker hose, which is just that, a hose that leaks on purpose all along its length. You turn it on, and when you think it's enough, you turn it off. Problems are that it's hard to calibrate and it becomes brittle after cold weather. More sophisticated is High Quality Tubing which can have attached emitters that go to each plant or pot. It takes some work and planning as to exactly where they should go. There are many companies that carry drip systems which can be laid on the surface or buried. The amount of water is regulated by the size of each emitter. They work best in frost free areas. Netafim Techline has tubing with holes 12 or 18 inches apart which emit a calibrated half gallon of water per hole per hour. It comes with a line water pressure adjuster, automatic timer, connectors and T-joints, as do all quality drip systems. Problems are that all sprinklers have to be blown out with compressed air before winter in cold climates, and breaks have to be mended (with connectors) as needed. Underground Sprinklers are what most people are familiar with, especially for the lawn. They are almost always the choice in northern areas. I checked out some costs in the Boston area in 1999, though prices will vary considerably depending on the climate and area you live in. In Boston, expect a professionally installed system using high quality parts to cost from $1500 to $2500 for a 2500 square foot front lawn. (100' x 25' or 50' x 50'). "Whoa!" you say , "That much?" At $2000, it breaks down as follows. About $500 is for the plumbing connection, a decent electronic controller is about $300, piping and heads about $500 and labor adds another $700. It would take 3 people one day to install in a northern climate, possibly less in warm areas. To add another 2500 square feet in the back might cost only $1000 more. Yearly maintenance costs include re-adjusting the sprinkler heads, and trouble-shooting. In cold climates, the system has to be blown out with compressed air so the pipes will not freeze and burst, and then turned on again in spring. Water is an additional cost. Water costs can be much higher if a sewer charge, based on water use, is added, so many towns allow sprinkler systems to have a separate meter (about $85 + cost of installation). Some people drill wells which produce water of adequate quality for plants but not for human use.

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