Sprinkler system? (Huntsville, Madison: neighborhood, contractors, utilities)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

As for Bermuda grass, I was told by a local seed company that I can add Kentucky Rye in the fall, it will co-exist with Bermuda, and it will stay green all winter.

That's exactly what I did, overseeded with Kentucky 31 Fescue. (I looked up the meaning of 31 and it relates to when it was invented, 1931.)

http://www.fescue.com/info/k31.html

[caution]

i'd say that watering a lawn to keep it green all summer is a waste of your resoruces and natural resources. but if you want to have a sprinker system, 3K for about an acre seems about right for a really good system.

i would go through water works (the company in HSV). they do it right. i met the owner of the company when they did my exterior lights, and since i have some experience as a greenskeeper (long ago, mind you) we talked about various developments in sprinkler systems and how they are installed/maintained for a while. this guy knows his stuff, and his people doing the work at my place were great guys. he shared some horror stories about poorly installed systems in the area too.

[djmaxwell]

Originally Posted by DvlsAdvc8

Seeking advice...

I'm having a house built and thinking about installing a sprinkler system. The builder is sodding the ~acre yard with bermuda grass. The additional cost would be about $3000 for the system and another $600 for a separate water meter.

I guess my question is: is it worth it?

$600 for a 2nd meter sounds like a great deal. I was told a 2nd meter in my area was $1500. $3000 sounds about right for the system itself. From what I've read, the larger yard doesn't actually drive up the cost that much. The bulk of the cost is in the controller not the plumbing.

We had our house built last year and have 1/2 acre of bermuda. Getting the sod established, we had to do a lot of watering, starting around mid April. There were times where we really wished we had a sprinkler system. Later in the summer when some of the tropical storm remnants dumped a lot of rain we really were able to cut back on watering so it wasn't much of an issue. This year we have yet to water. I still occasionally consider it, but we have yet to landscape our yard much and I'd hate to have to redo the sprinkler system.

I'm with HB2HSV. I don't believe I know anyone who has a sprinkler system. I've seen some sprinklers on a tripod that are supposed to be able to water larger areas. I'm contemplating getting one of those to handle the bulk of the yard for when we do need to water.

[boilrmkr]

Does the grass turn dormant and go brown in the middle of summer the way it does up north? We never watered our lawn up there and mid summer everyone's grass was brown except the one idiot on the street who watered all the time. In Savannah if you didn't water your grass died. It had to be watered all summer.

[DvlsAdvc8]

Quite a range of opinions here.... everyone has a sprinkler... no one has a sprinkler...

So, worst case analysis...

No sprinkler - grass dies or is plain ugly from lack of watering, or I spend siginificant effort hauling hoses. Higher costs related to not having a separate water meter.

Yes sprinkler - high initial cost, but lower cost of watering. May have to modify/move/adjust the system to accomodate landscaping/improvements.

I suppose I will get the sprinkler system... I'm not all that likely to want to deal with hoses in addition to other yard work. The up front cost is probably recouped down the road (a house with a sprinkler system is more desireable than one without right? or so my thinking goes). I'll just have to talk to the installer about some of my ideas for future improvements so as to reduce the risk I'll need to relocate plumbing.

Well, its official. Adding this option puts me ~ $1,500 above my target cost/price for this house. lol... and we were so proud of ourselves for coming in under budget!

[mm42]

Bermuda and Zoysia (and to a lesser extent centipede) are drought-tolerant and do not need to be watered. Watering them too much is actually bad because the roots don't grow as deep because they are lazy from the abundant watering.

I had Bermuda grass in Atlanta, never watered and no problems. Centipede is not as good because it's not as hardy and needs to be overseeded. Zoysia is similar to Bermuda (even hardier by all accounts).

I have Bermuda here - the house came with a sprinkler system, so any time it doesn't rain for 2 weeks I give it a good soaking. This is the ideal if you don't mind paying for the sprinkler system and the water. In a serious drought even Bermuda needs watering.

Fescue and other northern grasses have to be watered in the summer or they will turn brown and die. They also have to be aerated and overseeded annually and do not choke out weeds as well.

Since you are starting from new grass, Bermuda will also have to be watered for the first 30 days, so the sprinkler system is nice for that also,

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by DvlsAdvc8

Well, its official. Adding this option puts me ~ $1,500 above my target cost/price for this house. lol... and we were so proud of ourselves for coming in under budget!

Don't forget adding the cost of those cute statues that you will be eventually add to your lawns, like a little boy peeing (and the water will shoot up 3 feet high) so all the birds will come and drink the water.

Personally I plan to put an artificial turf putting green in my back to eliminate sprinkler cost.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

Personally I plan to put an artificial turf putting green in my back to eliminate sprinkler cost.

So you are giving up on female mud wrestling bar and grill idea for your backyard?

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by Charles

So you are giving up on female mud wrestling bar and grill idea for your backyard?

Female mud wrestling bar is still on the table, of course, I still need to find some "female mud" !

[skinem]

I've lived down here for 22 of the last 30 years--never had a sprinkler system and I can count on one hand the number of summers I had to water at all, it is was usually very short term. Usually, we have enough rain during the summer to keep yards green.
It seems that most folks I know that have an in-ground system have a system set up for flower garden watering, not whole yard systems such as you find out west.

I know this--I grew up in the desert west and every farmer there irrigated. Anyone with anything living in their yard had to run sprinklers nearly daily for about 7-8 months out of the year.

Down here, the majority of the farmers have no irrigation system whatsoever. Seems to me that if the guys that grow things for a living don't need it, I would'nt find it a good return on my money for me to install one for my grass to stay green and pretty.

...and I'm not the guy who has a dead lawn. I'm the guy whose yard always needs cutting!