by If the cons outweigh the pros, you are on your way to a new lawn sprinkling system.
The Pro of a Lawn Sprinkling System
- You do not have to stand outside with a garden hose to water your lawn for hours on end
- You have a built-in watering system to keep those beautiful flowers and vegetables in the garden hydrated
- Easy to adjust how much water you want to water in a specific area
- A lawn sprinkling system has the ability to distribute fertilizers and other lawn care products to the lawn and garden areas
- Water sprinkler systems have timers in which to set so your watering is done when you want it done, such as early morning or late evening
- Watering takes a bite out of the day and sprinkling systems allow for other lawn and garden chores
- When away from home for the weekend or several weeks there are no worries about the plants and grass dying out because you were not there to water
The Cons of a Lawn Sprinkling System
- Expensive unless you make it your DIY project for the summer
- If you need to water the lawn and garden and the day is windy, the wind can blow the water into areas you did not want to water or the sprinkler can put too much water on the neighbors property instead of your lawn
- Some types of plants, flowers and vegetables need only a bit of water to keep healthy, sometimes a water sprinkler puts too much water on these sensitive plants
- Consumers sometimes forget to shut off their system when it is raining, thus wasting valuable water and unnecessarily increasing the water bill
- The system requires regular system maintenance
Expect Some Large Issues and Learn Valuable Lessons
1. The way the economy is and every penny counts, we decided to install our own lawn and garden sprinkling system to save a lot of money. When you get it put in according to, directions it is frustrating to find when you set the timer to turn it on and there is no water, you become a bit sickened. The first thing we did was check to see if we set the timer correctly, and we had done this. However, what we found was a stupid overlooked issue on our part. We simply forgot to flip the switch on our fuse box. We were glad that this was not a plumbing or electrical issue.
Good Lesson: Take any DIY project systematically so as not to forget anything. This could have been time consuming to correct.
2. Another issue we had was trying to balance out the correct amount of water we needed and the time we needed to leave the sprinkler run. About one year after we had installed our system, we found standing water on our lawn and we certainly did not want this to happen. My husband knew right away that there was a section of pipe leaking water. He had to dig up the pipe where the water stood, and replace it with new pipe.
Good Lesson: Keep up on the maintenance of sprinkler systems and do not let part go unrepaired.
3. When we bought our system, it never occurred for us to make sure there was a warranty. However, when our pipe broke and we went back to the store they asked us if we had a warranty and we did not know. We returned home to look and there was a nice warranty. We were so excited to put this system in we overlooked an important part of our system. Our part was free.
Good Lesson: Know the product you are buying and if it is an expensive product make sure you get a good warranty and know what this warranty covers. Remember you always get what you pay for.
4. My husband is a phonetic about mowing the lawn. It grass is 1/2-inch too high he notices and is suddenly on a mission to mow. Know that when you install your own sprinkler system that the sprinkler heads must be at ground level so when you or your spouse mows you are not going to damage one of these heads. When you install the system, make sure the heads are well into the ground, and no more then 1/2 to 1/4-inch above ground level. This assures no one mow over them or kicks unintentionally.
Good Lesson: Live and learn. Life is full of lessons. Next time you know. We enjoy our sprinkling system because it offers us ease of mind when we cannot get outside to sprinkle. This system allows us more time for other things in life like gardening, and travel.
This has been a positive experience for us, in addition to saving a lot of money. We learned how to do something new. We no longer worry about the lawn and garden getting water when we cannot do the watering. We learned many lessons in making this a DIY project and that is good, because we can offer help to someone else.
