Hello,
Currently, it is quite dry everywhere, which has made the lawn here look like straw. I have heard that some people now use a timer to water their lawn at night, for example at 2 a.m., resulting in a beautifully green lawn.
Does anyone have experience with this? What exactly is needed for it?
So far, I only have a hose splitter with two outlets connected to my outdoor water tap, each running a polyethylene (PE) pipe with pop-up sprinklers. Until now, I have had to manually turn on the outdoor tap in the late afternoon and open the valve on the splitter for the desired PE pipe. Of course, this can be quite inconvenient and inefficient in the long run.
Currently, it is quite dry everywhere, which has made the lawn here look like straw. I have heard that some people now use a timer to water their lawn at night, for example at 2 a.m., resulting in a beautifully green lawn.
Does anyone have experience with this? What exactly is needed for it?
So far, I only have a hose splitter with two outlets connected to my outdoor water tap, each running a polyethylene (PE) pipe with pop-up sprinklers. Until now, I have had to manually turn on the outdoor tap in the late afternoon and open the valve on the splitter for the desired PE pipe. Of course, this can be quite inconvenient and inefficient in the long run.
So far, mulch on the flower beds and some hardier plants have been helpful for us.
The lawn is now being maintained at 5cm (2 inches) by Robbie, given the current temperatures.
After a month without any significant rainfall, watering is necessary here as well. Yes, it doesn't look so great anymore because the underlying gravel causes water to drain too quickly. But it is what it is. It’s just brown for now. As soon as we get 1-2 weeks of rain, it will recover very quickly.
The lawn is now being maintained at 5cm (2 inches) by Robbie, given the current temperatures.
After a month without any significant rainfall, watering is necessary here as well. Yes, it doesn't look so great anymore because the underlying gravel causes water to drain too quickly. But it is what it is. It’s just brown for now. As soon as we get 1-2 weeks of rain, it will recover very quickly.
H
HeimatBauer14 Jun 2023 11:30First of all, many thanks to rick2018 for the great insights. The Hunter system looks really impressive and it can be integrated into Home Assistant, at least to some extent.
I have a lawn that is mowed by a robotic mower (of course only during the day). Irrigation is done using rainwater from the cistern. Our district has no water shortage issues, so even during the worst droughts there has never been a call to save water.
My goal is irrigation for
- the lawn areas
- the elongated hedge
- specific plants that sometimes have increased water needs and therefore need to be controlled separately
Ideally, I would prefer an underground irrigation system (also because it saves a lot of water), but for the time being, sprinklers will probably be the only feasible option.
I have a lawn that is mowed by a robotic mower (of course only during the day). Irrigation is done using rainwater from the cistern. Our district has no water shortage issues, so even during the worst droughts there has never been a call to save water.
My goal is irrigation for
- the lawn areas
- the elongated hedge
- specific plants that sometimes have increased water needs and therefore need to be controlled separately
Ideally, I would prefer an underground irrigation system (also because it saves a lot of water), but for the time being, sprinklers will probably be the only feasible option.
H
HeimatBauer14 Jun 2023 13:40rick2018 schrieb:
The lawn only gets the essentials to encourage deeper roots. This is actually one of the keys to heat-resistant turf. I often see people complain about dried-out lawns and then spread so-called "heat-resistant grass seed" from a discount store in August. Deep roots, proper fertilization, and regular mowing—ideally with a robotic mower—mean you need much less water.
This is also one of the reasons why I have been looking into underground irrigation systems like Hunter Eco Wrap or Lite-Soil Bluelite-Net. Although I have a 10m³ (2642 gallons) rainwater tank, it will eventually run empty, so I prefer to reduce evaporation losses whenever possible.
10m3 (353 cubic feet) is really not much for lawn irrigation.
The underground systems are effective, but you have little control, they are significantly more expensive and complex, and if something breaks...
Therefore, I would always choose pop-up sprinklers. They use less water and are less affected by wind. So, Hunter rotors or comparable products from Rainbird or Perrot.
The underground systems are effective, but you have little control, they are significantly more expensive and complex, and if something breaks...
Therefore, I would always choose pop-up sprinklers. They use less water and are less affected by wind. So, Hunter rotors or comparable products from Rainbird or Perrot.
H
HeimatBauer14 Jun 2023 14:02So far, as long as the cistern has been used solely for my garden, I have never seen the bottom. For my garden, which is about 240m² (2,585 sq ft) of lawn with some border planting, it is definitely sufficient – especially since it collects water from a 170m² (1,830 sq ft) roof area, so a summer thunderstorm fills it up well again.
Yes, I am fully aware of the disadvantages of underground systems, particularly that a continuous network obviously means a complete garden redesign. What I still find very appealing is the lower water consumption, as well as the fact that my neighbors are already setting up bonfires due to water shortages in Brandenburg, while I water with my rainwater in an area with water abundance. I avoid that discussion by keeping the irrigation system out of sight.
What an underground system obviously cannot do is targeted control of the sprinkler via Home Assistant to deter unwanted visitors.
Yes, I am fully aware of the disadvantages of underground systems, particularly that a continuous network obviously means a complete garden redesign. What I still find very appealing is the lower water consumption, as well as the fact that my neighbors are already setting up bonfires due to water shortages in Brandenburg, while I water with my rainwater in an area with water abundance. I avoid that discussion by keeping the irrigation system out of sight.
What an underground system obviously cannot do is targeted control of the sprinkler via Home Assistant to deter unwanted visitors.
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