A well-watered lawn is essential for creating a beautiful garden. Even if your flower beds are well-watered and full of colour, a dry, brown lawn will detract from their appearance, spoiling the whole garden as a result. In contrast, a lush, green lawn will complement the appearance of the flower beds, enabling your whole garden to always look its very best. ‘But why would I need to install lawn popup sprinklers in Autumn?’ we hear you say. That’s a valid question, as the sprinklers won’t be operating at all during the colder months ahead. Why not wait until Spring, when the sprinklers will actually be needed? Well, there are three key reasons for this.
Digging Trenching is Easiest During Autumn
Trenching is required to house the underground pipework leading to the popup sprinklers. As trenching will need to be dug to a depth of 300mm below ground, it’s best to do this at the easiest time – when the ground has been softened by the Autumn rains (after a dry Summer), but before the ground hardens during the cold Winter. Even if Winter is mild, due to the substantial amount of rainfall being received during Winter, the ground will likely be exceptionally muddy by Spring. Autumn is therefore the ideal time to carry out trenching – maximizing the productivity of the work carried out – by saving a substantial amount of time. In comparison, trenching just before Spring would be much more arduous and take much longer.
A Dormant, Autumnal Garden is a Better Protected Garden
With the arrival of Autumn, the garden becomes dormant, with many plants dying back and no longer actively growing. This means that there will be less damage to the garden when trenching, as the impact on the plants will be greatly reduced when compared to the Summer. Additionally, this allows the plants time to recover (from any damage caused by the trenching) during the Winter, so that they are ready to start flourishing again with the arrival of Spring. So, trenching during the Spring could result in an unfavourable outcome for your much loved and valuable plants – demonstrating why trenching in Autumn is the best choice.
Lawn Re-seeding in Autumn is Far Better than Re-seeding in Spring
Another key benefit of installing in Autumn is that the areas of lawn that have been dug up due to trenching will be able to be re-seeded straight away – giving the seeds time to germinate before Spring. Similarly, turfing in Autumn will allow new turf to root properly – meaning that it won’t shrink and die back – compared to turfing in the Spring – which could result in a poor outcome for the new areas of lawn.
Introduction to a Lawn Popup Sprinkler Underground Layout
The main underground components within a lawn popup sprinkler system are: the underground supply pipe, the compression tees & elbows, the swing joints, and of course – the popup sprinklers themselves.
Underground supply pipe will need to be hard walled MDPE and will usually be 25mm for an average sized lawn. 32mm MDPE pipe will be required for larger lawns.
Threaded compression tees will be used to tee off from the 25mm MDPE pipe. For the last sprinkler in the run a threaded compression elbow will be required. So, for example, if three popup sprinklers were being used on a run, tees would need to be used for the first two, and an elbow for the third, as this will connect to the popup sprinkler at the end of the run.
Threaded swing joints are threaded on above the threaded tees and elbows. Swing joints are used to allow flexibility regarding the positioning of the sprinklers, enabling them to sit just below the mowing surface when not in operation. Another advantage of installing in the Autumn is that the sprinklers have time to settle into position over Winter, allowing you to re-check in early Spring, and if necessary, adjust them before mowing begins.
The Hunter PGP Ultra popup sprinkler is a high quality, very popular sprinkler which is ideal for watering medium or large lawns. Its watering area is extremely flexible, having an adjustable arc of between 50 to 360 degrees and a watering radius of between 5.2m and 13.7m, meaning that even unusual or awkward areas of lawn can be watered efficiently. Another popular popup sprinkler is the Hunter PGJ. This is similar to the PGP sprinkler, but on a smaller scale, making it suitable for smaller lawns.
So, now you know what is involved in a popup sprinkler system for lawns, and why Autumn is the best time of year to install – it’s time to get started!
