Landscape irrigationTerms & Equipment

Plant: Japanese Barberry

Term: Irrigation

Japanese Barberry

• Shrub, deciduous • Hardiness Zones: 4a to 8a • Height: 3’ to 6’ by Spread: 4’ to 6’ • Exposure: shade to full sun • Leaf Color: Green, Purple – Grown for Foliage

not blooms• Has small red berries in fall• Grows very slowly• Looks like a red boxwood• Has small thorns

Irrigation

• Supplying water to land through artificial means.

• Two Types1. Drip – applied to the soil

2. Sprinkler – applied over head

Drip Systems

• Used for garden beds, individual plants• Impractical for turf.• Drip tubes or porous tubes• Tree Gators• May be mandated by code in water conservation

areas• Two emitters

– Pressure compensating – needed for rolling terrain– Non-compensating

• Emitter spacing depends on soil types and root zone size

Sprinklers

• Used for turf grass areas

• Used for garden beds where obstructions do not block spray patters

• Spray heads – steady flow

• Impact or rotary heads – larger area

Comparison

Sprinkler Drip

Delivery

Pressure

High Pressure Low Pressure

Delivery

Mechanism

Spray or rotary heads

tubing & drip emitters

Delivery

Location

Over top of plants

To the roots of plants

Comparison

Sprinkler Drip

Delivery

Rate

Fast

Gallons/minute

Slow

Gallons/hour

Problems Run-off

Evaporation

No run-off

No evaporation

Installation & Maintenance

Expensive

Easy to find problems

Inexpensive

Can’t see prob-lems til too late

Sprinkler Heads:

• Pop-up– Size depends on the plant

height in the zone

• Spray Nozzles– Color indicates distance of

throw

• VAN – Variable Angle Nozzle

Sprinkler Systems

• Areas to be irrigated are divided into zones based on water flow rates

• Each zone is controlled by a solenoid valve

• Irrigation controller – computer that tells valves when to turn on and off

Today

• Complete day 1 of irrigation packet

• Watch video on planning irrigation

• Go to flagpole garden– Measure & sketch the garden

• Measure gallons per minute from the bib