Suggestions for hardware

13 years ago

I'm starting out soliciting bids to put in a sprinkler system at home and in the garden.

In the garden, I have a dozen or so beds for which I'd like drip irrigation, along with several towers of a grit mix with strawberries - these need watering on their own schedule. The beds won't need to be watered all at the same time. Ideally, each bed could be controlled as it's own zone.

Around the house I need a combination of drip and spray for the grass.

I would like to be able to inject liquid fertilizer into the garden beds - preferably not all or none, but that's likely the only reasonable solution. Garden is 32 x 32 with all raised beds plus 4 additional beds outside the fence with strawberries, rasberries, blackberries, etc.

Lot is about an acre with several planting areas and trees spread across the yard.

Should I be looking at a) one system/controller for both lawn and garden or b) a separate control system for the garden?

Secondly, if cost were no object, which controller/system would people generally suggest? If cost were a consideration, what would be the step-down solution, and how much would that save?

We're in NJ. Any ballpark on what the total system costs might/should be?

Thanks for reading and hopefully answering a really broad set of questions (and as such I don't expect your answers to be exact ).

Andrew

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Comments (2)

lehua49
13 years ago
Andy,

Get three bids from reputable contractors with histories verifiable with the better business bureau and are licensed. The proposal will be the best prices available in your local area at that time. Let each know you are getting three bids. Do not be in a rush no matter what they tell you.

Make a general list of all the major items you will want to have. Draw a diagram to scale of your yard and garden and place irrigation heads on it to get the coverage you need. Approximate 12 foot radius for lawn heads and one foot spacing for drip holes or emitters. Look up on the internet or take a trip to the irrigation or hardware store and price the items out for major brands. These are retail prices while your bidders will be using contractor prices. Once you have that info we can help you critique the information to help you with your decision. You could hire a landscape architect to do a plan for you and price it out as an Architect Estimate. You can use one controller for both lawn and garden as long as it has an independent control for each zone or more than one program. I would not do the liquid fertilizer for the garden. Any thing injected in the drip system will tend to clog it over time with salts and/or organic bacteria growth. All major brands sell different level of controllers with differing levels of features and flexibility. Most are all reliable. Read consumer evaluations. Cost could be roughly around $5,000. Your description would is of a more elaborate layout and system. Not including the planting material. About 30% material and 70% labor. Good luck JMHO Aloha
andyinnyc
Original Author
13 years ago
Lehua,

Thanks for the info. What I'm particularly interested in are manufacturers and model numbers - if all 3 bids use "Really Crappy Co" controllers, I would just be basing my purchase on the best price, but not not best hardware.

Any other thoughts?

Andrew
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