Interested in your thoughts

[bumper]

Landscape and irrigation job we finished a few months back and just returned to do some maintenance on this relatively young landscape.
Slope is 4/12 run, heavy clay soil, 5 station system, with all rainbird spray heads on 12" sch 80 risers and roughly 1100sq. ft.. We did the wall and the Plant material includes Huechera, Penstemon, Margarita BOP, shrub roses, Lamonium, Anigozanthus, Yellow Wave, Nandina, Leptospermum, Marigolds Lobelia and Arctotis with Myoporum for ground cover....what ya think??..if wrong forum, don't shoot me, I'll move it :hammerhead:

[Dirty Water]

I won't critique the landscape because that is not my job. I will however say that exposed PVC in Sunny So Cal is a horrible idea....Not to mention ugly.

With that heavy clay soil, and the fast precipitation rates of the spray nozzles, you will have run off problems.

I would have either dripped it, or used BURIED sprinklers (12" pop rotors if I could get away with it or maybe a slower precipation nozzle on a spray body like the MP Rotator.) with BURIED pipe. That install looks like a home depot home owner did it.

Is the entire thing 3/4"?

Sorry, I don't mean to be harsh.

EDIT:

Wheres the mulch? Mulch helps break down the heavy clay soil over time, and holds moisture in the ground...plus it slows weed growth.

[KCLandscape]

Paint the pipes dark or to blend with mulch. Yea, where is the mulch anyway?

[bumper]

The danger in trenching a 4/12 slope was enough to push us toward UVR or Brown Line we call it,,uv resistant...the ground cover will eventually cover all the exposed pipe....the run times worked well when the landscape was brand spankin new....4 minutes station 1,2 2 minutes station 3,4, and 4 minutes station 5, 5 a.m. 6 a.m. 7 a.m....as you can see the roots have take hold and we just cut back the run time to 4 minutes per station 4 days a week. No run off....we did the calcs PR and soil....by end of summer the UVR will be covered thinly by plant material. Ya don't mulch when ground cover is used !!..where the Marigolds and Jack spratt is planted we used mulch to blend with the wall...yes..all 3/4 " UVR Sch. 40..we barely had enough psi to pop the last head.

[Dirty Water]

Here is a trencher that works safely on 4/12 slopes:

http://czjx.china.com/sitedesign/home/ch/czjx/images/product/Product19645.jpg

I would have never even considered exposed pipe an option. I'm glad you went with UV Resistant, though usually that is grey here.

[KCLandscape]

Classic Dirtywater moment...
Until you get some groundcover actually covering, mulch the CRAP out of it. Pinebark, hardwood, whatever (except the RED junk). Trench shovels do come in handy as well...

[PurpHaze]

I'm sure you're anticipating that the ground cover and other plant materials will eventually hide the above ground piping. I'm with Jon that other sprinklers which work better with slopes would have been more appropriate. What about "low head drainage" also?

[bumper]

:) :) you did not think we considered a mechanical trencher did ya? Interesting..on slope landscape, at least here..it is common practice and encouraged to lay down UVR with risers.

[bumper]

I'm sure you're anticipating that the ground cover and other plant materials will eventually hide the above ground piping. I'm with Jon that other sprinklers which work better with slopes would have been more appropriate. What about "low head drainage" also?


Check valves

[Dirty Water]

:) :) you did not think we considered a mechanical trencher did ya? Interesting..on slope landscape, at least here..it is common practice and encouraged to lay down UVR with risers.

Well, I guess thats nice. Up here we hand dig if we can't get a machine in safely. If the client is cool with it, ok, but the only times you see that here is with amatuer's.

http://www.lawnsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56956&d=1147646052

Hard to tell, but I see no checkvalve there. I see two marlex ells I think.

Wheres the mulch?

[PurpHaze]

Well, I guess thats nice. Up here we hand dig if we can't get a machine in safely. If the client is cool with it, ok, but the only times you see that here is with amatuer's.

This is actually quite common in So Cal and is often specked out that way by LA's.

[Dirty Water]

This is actually quite common in So Cal and is often specked out that way by LA's.


I'm moving, anytime we can get the same amount of money, and have to do less work.... :drinkup:

[PurpHaze]

I'm moving, anytime we can get the same amount of money, and have to do less work.... :drinkup:

Well, it's not always that way. Freeways are generally a no-no even with their slopes.

Was at Disneyland/Cal Adventures last weekend and of course I had to find the valve boxes and other hidden components while everyone else was looking at all the pretty landscaping. They are quite good at hiding everything.

[Dirty Water]

Was at Disneyland/Cal Adventures last weekend and of course I had to find the valve boxes and other hidden components while everyone else was looking at all the pretty landscaping. They are quite good at hiding everything.

I do the same thing at every public area I am in. If you go down to Las Vegas, check out the drip install at the Wynn...Miles of .620 emmiter tubing in a interconnected grid.

No mulch, but at least they used brown tubing.

[KCLandscape]

So what do you think about painting the pipe, for UV or fashion reasons.
I have a slope worse than that had to do part above ground in areas where the bedrock would not let us get in. I will take some pics.

[PurpHaze]

I'm not totally against it. Gotta do what ya gotta do in order to get the job done. However, it's best to have the customer behind you. If a fast growing ground cover is also used then that's a plus also.

[MMEC]

Every topographical area has different standards so I keeping any comments mum since I am not from that region. It is easy for us to critique how we would do it differently but it seems a little quick to judge since install techniques vary so much by region.

[bumper]

I'm moving, anytime we can get the same amount of money, and have to do less work.... :drinkup:

Couple times only way off that slope was a dead run, leaping off the retaining and landing on the driveway...before we prepped and planted that soil was hard as a rock and slippery as ice. In retrospect..I would have taken the flat ground dig job..puttin in the plant material was whole other story...BUT..at the end of day, the beer was cold, nobody broke a hip !!

[Dirty Water]

Every topographical area has different standards so I keeping any comments mum since I am not from that region. It is easy for us to critize how we would do it differently but it seems a little quick to judge since install techniques vary so much by region.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure a client would be happier if all that was under the ground from the start, and there were not ugly risers poking up.

My joke above about moving aside, if we installed to the local standards here we wouldn't have such a good reputation.

[KCLandscape]

If a fast growing ground cover is also used then that's a plus also.


And mulch until the GC catches up.

I am thinking about putting a system in the front yard this year. Either of you irrigation cowboys want to walk me through the process online?

I need help with the connection/backflow thing, plus I want to learn how they work. I have run laterals/mains/heads. No problemo there. Have a master plumber at beck and call if needed. I renovated his grass last fall and he keeps calling me and saying he owes me one because it looks so good.
pics to come

[bumper]

That may be true but if you have a main or lateral 12" down and it breaks or leaks on a hillside and the client misses it..... you've got whole other set of problems to deal with, not to mention undermining the hillside. On top, problems are easy to spot, easy to fix, and easy to fix without destryoing the plant material...may be a regional thing...certainly works here.

[MMEC]

Regardless, I'm pretty sure a client would be happier if all that was under the ground from the start, and there were not ugly risers poking up.


I agree with you and feel the same way. I was just making a point that I don't live in the area and might not know something that is obvious to others from the area. Just like I can't believe that some companies still trench everything in, since it is unheard of here in the midwest.

[bumper]

That's a good point....nobody pulls pipe here,,,,all trenched either by hand or machine..cept hillsides :)

Thanks for your thoughts !!!!