is it worth installing sprinklers? (how much, home, landscaping)

[Magic78]

We moved into our home about a month ago. I feel like I spend half my time moving sprinklers around my front and back lawns. I still have dry spots. We got an estimate today, under $3,000 for everything. We have .37 acres.

Is it a waste to do in NJ?

[BobKovacs]

If you're not getting the grass to look the way you want it to, it's not a waste. I'd have someone look at the lawn, though, and see if you've got a watering issue or perhaps it just needs nutrients. With the amount and frequency of rain you get in NJ, sprinklers usually aren't necessary unless you're looking for a golfcourse-quality lawn. Our lawn up there looked like crap for the first 4 years we were in our house, mainly because the previous owner had never done anything to promote its growth- after a year of having Scotts do weed treatments, fertilizing and aerating, it looked 100 times better, even without ever watering it (other than via rain).

$3k for that size lot sounds pretty reasonable, btw.

[camaro69]

I have an underground system on a little over 1.3 of an acre.

Is it worth it. Lets just say that my grass is still green while all my neighbors grass are turning brown.

nuff said.

[jerseyj]

Originally Posted by Magic78

We moved into our home about a month ago. I feel like I spend half my time moving sprinklers around my front and back lawns. I still have dry spots. We got an estimate today, under $3,000 for everything. We have .37 acres.

Is it a waste to do in NJ?

I hear that! We finally estabished a "real" grass lawn,, spring and fall it is lush. Summer, not so much. I refuse to haul hoses and sprinklers around this yard. The problem we have had is when the grass goes dormant, the weeds take over.

We have about .63 acres and just got a quote for $2800 for an underground system. I think this is the year we do it.

[ansky]

A typical lawn needs about 1-inch of water per week. In general, 1 long soaking per week is better than a little watering each day. This is because the long soaking gets the water deep down into the roots, rather than just wetting the top layer of soil. Watering too frequently can make your lawn susceptible to disease, and I know someone that practically killed their lawn by watering too often. With that said, you shouldn't really need to be moving sprinklers around too much. Do the front yard one day, back yard the next, and then you're done for the week. Obviously this depends on the logistics of your yard, just make sure you're not watering and moving sprinklers around every day.

[Marc Paolella]

I absolutely love my sprinkler system. It makes short work of keeping the lawn green. Especially when you combine it with a service like Lawn Doctor. For $600 or so a year, Lawn Doctor comes to my property about 6 or 7 times during the year, applies the correct fertlilizer and weed killer at the right time, seeds the lawn in the spring and fall, and takes the guesswork out of how and when to service the lawn. Then the sprinkler system does the rest. I have a Rainbird computer controller, and once you learn how to use it, you can control exactly how much and how often your lawn is watered.

Another great thing about sprinkler systems is that they have different heads for different jobs. If you have gardens, you can set up custom water zones for the gardens that are different than the lawns. Great feature. Sprinkler heads for the lawn pop up about 3 inches and rotate the water around. Sprinkler heads for gardens pop up much higher, perhaps a foot or even a bit more, and spray the water into the plantings.

If you are lucky enough to have both well water and city water, as I do, you can use the well water for the lawn. Very economical, as paying for the city water to sprinkle your lawn can get expensive. I also use the well water for my koi pond. One of my sprinkler zones tops off the koi pond 4 times a day, basically overflowing the pond for 15 minutes and doing an automatic water change. Magical. The fish love it and it's also "air conditioning" for them since the well water is much cooler than the 80 degree water the fish are living in from June-August.

The sprinkler system has a sensor that allows it to skip watering if it is raining.

The sprinkler company comes once in the fall to close the system and blow compressed air through it to protect it from winter freezing, and they come by in the Spring to open the system and clean and adjust the heads.

If you are a lawn or landscaping junkie, the sprinkler system is a lot of fun and is a "must have". Don't skimp though. Pay money and get a good one from a reputable company. I used Superior Lawn Sprinkler and they came out, planned the system, customized head placement for the gardens, lawns, and koi pond. I think it cost about $2,500 and they were in and out in one day. My system has 13 zones and about 60 heads. Yearly maintenance is about $250 for the two maintenance visits to open and close the system.

Between Lawn Doctor and the sprinkler system, the only thing I have to do is cut the lawn, which I enjoy. Total cost? $900/yr plus the electricity to run my well pump, which is negligible in the scheme of things.

[millerm277]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

If you're not getting the grass to look the way you want it to, it's not a waste. I'd have someone look at the lawn, though, and see if you've got a watering issue or perhaps it just needs nutrients. With the amount and frequency of rain you get in NJ, sprinklers usually aren't necessary unless you're looking for a golfcourse-quality lawn. Our lawn up there looked like crap for the first 4 years we were in our house, mainly because the previous owner had never done anything to promote its growth- after a year of having Scotts do weed treatments, fertilizing and aerating, it looked 100 times better, even without ever watering it (other than via rain).

I'll disagree on that. August or any time you've got a stretch of high 90s+ weather = dead and brown without watering. NJ rain is rather variable. Now, if you have a shady yard, I could see you getting by without it, but otherwise you're not going to have a very green lawn for most of the summer months.

$3k for that size lot sounds pretty reasonable, btw.

Agreed.

Also, if you're DIY inclined, you CAN build a professional quality (or better, IMO) sprinkler system for a fraction of that price. Toro makes some great DIY irrigation components and systems, etc. If you're the type of person who does their own big, complex projects (like gutting and re-doing your kitchen), you'll probably much prefer it. If not, go with professional installation.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by millerm277

I'll disagree on that. August or any time you've got a stretch of high 90s+ weather = dead and brown without watering. NJ rain is rather variable. Now, if you have a shady yard, I could see you getting by without it, but otherwise you're not going to have a very green lawn for most of the summer months.

Agreed- depends on the lot. We were able to get by without a sprinkler system, but we also had enough trees that most of the lawn wasn't completely tortured by the sun all day. Was it golf-course quality? No- but it looked better than 95% of the surrounding yards, since very few people had anyone doing any fertilizing or other work to their lawns.

Down here in GA, we just put a sprinkler system in last year, and it made a huge difference. Our back yard faces due south, so it gets a beating in the sun. Even though Bermuda likes sun, it's still too much for the lawn, and we don't tend to get long, soaking rains in the summer- usually justa pop-up shower in the late afternoon that lasts 5-10 minutes.

The first few years we were here, my next door neighbor's grass looked 10x better than anyone else's on the street, but he was constantly out there moving sprinklers around almost every day. Now that we've got a sprinkler system, our lawn looks better than his, and I don't spend any time playing with sprinklers....

[marc515]

Like you said, you spend half your time watering it.

So did I, and finally installed a sprinkler system. Now looking back I can't believe all the time I wasted moving a sprinkler around!

Go for a sprinkler system, you will not regret it.

[GoodSchoolols]

Underground sprinklers will make your lawn look better and is much easier to keep it that way. If you do not water your lawn on the other hand, you will not have to mow it as much.