Showing posts with label watering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watering. Show all posts
How To Remove Broken Sprinkler Risers
The cut-off riser I used when mounting a replaced my impact sprinkler on a spike base with a rotor sprinkler broke when I was re-positioning the sprinkler and I couldn't get it out. Luckily I found a tool designed to remove broken sprinkler risers and nipples. The Orbit Nipple Extractor
removed the broken cut-off riser portion that was stuck in the hose-end spike base effortlessly.I previously tried all sorts of tools and methods including plyers, knives and saws to try and remove the threaded portion with no luck. I even wound up cutting one of my fingers pretty badly in the process. The nipple extractor took it out within a few seconds. Once again right tool/right job and things go smoothly.
The Orbit Nipple Extractor costs about as much as a replacement hose-end spike base and I had contemplated just purchasing a new spike base rather than trying to get the broken riser out of it. In the end I decided it would be a good idea to have the nipple extractor in case I ever need it in the future. I decided to stick with the plastic cut-off risers which are designed to break before other components because it's easier/cheaper to replace a riser than it is to replace a sprinkler body or pipe fitting. In the future I might also install a full, in-ground sprinkler system and this tool would be nice to have in case anything goes wrong.
The version of the nipple extractor I purchased comes with 2 removable reamers that are used to remove plastic threaded components that have broken while still screwed into their mating pieces. One is for 1/2" risers while the other is for 3/4". Simply choose the appropriate reamer and screw it onto the T-shaped handle. Keep in mind that the reamer is threaded in the opposite direction. It's righty-loosey/lefty-tighty and not righty-tighty/lefty-loosey.
Once you insert the nipple extractor into the broken nipple, press down and slowly turn the handle counter clockwise. The fins of the nipple extractor should dig into the plastic of the riser or nipple creating enough friction to begin unscrewing the riser out of the fitting.
I had no idea such a tool even existed. I happened to run the Orbit Nipple Extractor while searching for something else. If only I found it sooner I could have saved myself a couple hours trying in vain to use other means and saved myself the pain and inconvenience of cutting my index finger. I highly recommend anyone that owns a sprinkler system to pick up one of these.
Organic Lawn Renovation - Soil Prep and Seeding
Days 9, 10 and 11 of my organic lawn renovation project were pretty tough. A lot of raking, digging and incorporating compost. I ran into some snags that made it even more difficult but hopefully it will all be worth it when my new lawn comes in.
I was expecting to have seed down by the 10th day but I ran into a few snags. I had the bright idea to do all the work with manual tools since it was only 600 sq ft that I was renovating but it wound up being more tiring than I expected. This post is a few days late as a result. My whole body was sore and my fingers were too tired to type. It was a pretty good workout though. :)
The first major step was to kill off as much of the existing lawn as I could using two organic herbicides instead of RoundUP. (See BurnOut II vs Nature's Avenger.) That went pretty well and both killed a large majority of the existing grass and weeds. There was some weedy looking tall fescue that was coming back too fast and I decided to dig it up before I went on to amending the soil, leveling the lawn and seeding. Details discussed below.
Digging Out Tall Fescue
The first step was to get rid of the nasty Tall Fescue that seemed to be a little too stubborn for the organic weed and grass killers. Some of it seemed to be an improved tall fescue but most of it was unimproved, wide bladed fast growing and ugly. There might have also been some orchard grass in there as well.
It was only in Section 1 which was about 300 sq ft. I keep eyeing a Mantis Electric Tiller
but haven't actually bought one yet. I called about renting a tiller and it was only around $50. I saw this Sun Joe Electric Tiller/Cultivator
which is only twice as much as renting and now renting seemed like a waste of money but there wasn't enough time to get the cheaper tiller. Plus some of the reviews are bad for this model. I decided to just grab a hoe and a rake and start tearing up that section by hand to pull out the clumps of tall fescue.By the time it was half way done I was regretting not renting the tiller because it was very hot that day. Three and a half hours, 1 gallon of water, 64 oz of Gatorade later and I had dug up all the tall fescue clumps and raked them out of the soil.
The amount of wide bladed, unimproved tall fescue I pulled out was enough to fill up a leaf collection bag. BurnOut II and Nature's Avenger killed about 95% of the grass in this section. It did a bit of damage to the fescue but it was just growing back too fast. After going over the area with my thatch rake
there was a lot of bare soil. Once I was done digging out the fescue it was more like 99% bare soil.In hindsight doing it by hand was probably better because the fescue wasn't torn up as much as it would have with a rototiller and I likely got more of it out of the soil than if I had rototilled. This grass is tough and would have reestablished if not removed. Unfortunately digging up the soil like that can bring up weed seeds that had been waiting deep in the soil.
Regrading the Lawn
Since I was putting down new grass seed it seemed like a good time to regrade the lawn. There were some awkward high and low spots that made it difficult to mow. I also had to smooth out Section 1 which I had dug up.
In Section 2 there was this strange hump around the lamp post. It caused a lot of problems. It's a small section and the lamp post is fairly close to the edge of the lawn. This caused a very steep slope from the post to the edge. In the winter water would shed off here and sometimes freeze on the front walkway. If I kept one side of the mower's wheels on the walkway I'd wind up scalping part of the lawn and it would fill up with weeds. If I kept both wheels on the lawn I'd have to struggle to keep the lawn mower from sliding the slope. It was also impossible to get a nice edge. After edging the soil would slowly slump down since it was a couple of inches above the walkway.
It didn't take long to figure out why the hump was there. I kind of expected it but was really hoping I was wrong.
There used to be a ring of landscaping stones around the lamp post creating a small circular planting area. I guess someone decided they didn't like the planting bed any more and rather than remove the stones, they just covered it up with dirt and put down grass seed.
Some soil might have been removed from the back of that section since it was noticeably lower than the other sections. This was a problem because it was up against the foundation where water can pool during rain. Luckily there were never any water issues.
These weren't little bricks that were laid out around the post. These were rocks buried 10-12" into the dirt. It took some work to get them out. On the plus side I'll have some decent looking landscaping stones once I power wash them.
After the stones were removed I used a bow rake to spread the soil out and give the soil a proper grade away from the house while providing a more level surface that I can mow and edge easier.
My plan was to buy a level headed rake but instead I wound up borrowing a bow rake. The bow rake, along with my thatch rake did a good job of moving the soil around to smooth it out. The bow rake was one of the nice old forged ones with a wooden handle that I don't think you can buy any more. I went looking and the closest I could find was this Kodiak Forged Bow Rake
. It's a little more than the welded steel aluminum bow rakes you usually find but if it holds up as long as the one I was using did it's worth it.
Adding Compost To Lawn
My lawn's soil wasn't that great and even with mulch mowing my clippings, fall leaves and spreading organic fertilizers it was a bit low in organic matter so I planned to incorporate some compost.
Since I was only doing a small section of my lawn I couldn't find any place that would deliver that little bulk compost. I had to get bags of compost from my local garden center and since I don't have a truck I had to make multiple trips to bring that 800lbs of compost home.
My plan was to get some plant based compost and some composted manure but when I got to the garden center they only had composted manure. It's not plain composted manure but also has some grass clippings and leaves composted as well. From what I understand it's primarily duck manure.
|
| Composted Left/Not Composted Right |
I got enough 40lb bags to spread a little more than 1/3rd of an inch of compost over the sections I was renovating. The composted manure was from Long Island Compost. It was very clumpy and moist and I couldn't see how anyone would be able to topdress with it as the back of the bag indicated. I broke the bags of composted manure in half with my spade and the product practically came out in too big chunks. It smelled fine though. Since I was almost starting with a clean slate I would be able to wrestle it into the ground.
After I was done applying the compost I contacted LI Compost and was informed the Long Island Compost Composted Manure was meant more for gardens and not lawns. When the bags are packed on pallets and sit in garden centers awaiting purchase they get compressed from the weight of other bags on top of them. I was told their Hampton's Estate Premium Composted Manure or Premium Topsoil would be a better fit for applying to lawns. The Hampton's Estate line is double screened and has peat moss mixed in to give it a better texture.
Update: LI Compost provided me with a few samples of their other types of compost and top soil. The Hampton's Estate Premium Composted Manure is very fine and loose. It's a much better material to top dress with. They didn't know anything about my blog or my renovation, just that I purchased a lot of their compost.
Using my thatch rake and Garden Weasel Cultivator
I was able to incorporate it into the soil. It was more labor and time intensive than I thought it would be but the thatch rake made things go smoothly.I'm really surprised by how much I use my thatch rake. I initially purchased a thatch rake to remove ground ivy from my lawn but it has so many other uses in the garden. It can be adjusted to a more aggressive angle that pushes the tines a few inches into the soil which helps loosen it and the cultivator end of the tines (the bent tines) help pull up and incorporate amendments. By working the thatch rake back and forth over a small area, then pulling in some composted manure, breaking it up with the thatch rake, then again going back and forth until the composted manure was broken down into small particles and mixed in with the existing soil I wound up getting a nice layer of rich topsoil that was a few inches thick.
You can see what a difference the compost made in the picture on the right. The top section is Section 3 which had the compost incorporated and on the bottom Section 2 which did not.
The soil in the top section looks dark and rich while the bottom section looks grey. One benefit of having to manually cultivate the soil so much with the thatch rake is that I was able to get out some more of the grass that hadn't been killed by the organic herbicides I used. These 2 sections don't get as much sun as the other section and there was still some grass left unharmed. The majority was desiccated by the spraying and removed with the dethatching but the more aggressive cultivating with the thatch rake trying to get those clumps of composted manure broken down got rid of some of what was left. Some of the grass was just buried in the new soil.
I was going to apply an organic starter fertilizer and lime as well but the composted manure has a guaranteed analysis of 0.5-0.5-0.5 which will provide more than enough nutrients based on how much I applied and the Fast Acting Lime I applied a few years ago is still keeping the soil pH where it needs to be. Before frost hits I might add some Fast Acting Gypsum
to increase the calcium and lower the pH because it's seems a little high.
Planting Black Beauty Grass
I had a hard time deciding which grass seed to go with. I had decided to go with Turf Type Tall Fescue instead of Kentucky Bluegrass. One of the grass seed mixes I was considering was Black Beauty grass seed
from Jonathan Green. It looked like a nice grass and had decent results. I was considering another custom blend but in the end the small patch of Black Beauty I grew in a container wound up looking very good. You can check out my time lapse video of Jonathan Green Black Beauty germinating.The thing that tipped the scales in favor of Black Beauty was Jonathan Green's great customer service, they were a local business in my state and it was a seed I can pick up from my local garden center if I need more. I was able to see more pictures of actual Black Beauty grass seed than I could the other varieties I was looking into.
Before spreading the seed I lightly scratched the soil with my thatch rake to loosen it, then I applied the Black Beauty Seed with my Scott's Accugreen 1000 drop spreader which I don't think they make anymore. The Accugreen 100 has different spreader settings than other Scott's drop spreaders and I had to guess what the correct spreader setting should be for Jonathan Green Black Beauty. I knew how much seed I would need and added it to the spreader's hopper, set the spreader to 9 and made two passes over the lawn in two different directions and still had more than half of the seed left. After increasing the spreader setting to 12 I made 3 more passes in different directions and used up all the seed. More passes than I wanted but the seed went down evenly.
I went over the soil one more time lightly with my thatch rake on a less aggressive setting so I could scratch the seed into the soil to cover the seeds about 1/4" then watered.
Until the seeds germinate I'll be lightly watering 3 or 4 times a day. Around 8am, 12pm and 4pm. The test container of Black Beauty I had germinated in 3 days because it was a more controlled situation out of direct sunlight and since it was sitting on my desk I could water it more evenly. I expect the Black Beauty seed outdoors to germinate around the 7-10 days indicated on the bag.
This was a lot of work and now I have to just wait and water patiently and hope everything works out.
Fixing Break On Gilmour Spike Hose Connector
One common complaint I've seen regarding the Gilmour Sprinkler on Metal Spike
is that the hose connector breaks. Once it breaks you can no longer attach a hose which means you can't use the sprinkler.I haven't had mine fail but I've come up with a solution that will reduce strain on this connection which will make it last longer. It will also make it easier to use the sprinkler.
The hose connection is the black plastic nut on the right side of the photo. This is where the male end of a hose connects to provide water to the sprinkler. The green plastic on the left is a cap. If you have enough pressure and water flow to connect multiple sprinklers you can unscrew the green cap and connect the female end of a garden hose to it, and then the male end of the garden hose to another sprinkler input.
If your Gilmour Sprinkler hose connection has broken I think the only thing you can do is buy a replacement Orbit 58197N Zinc Step Spike Base
and unscrew the Impulse head from the old spike and screw it onto the new one. The Orbit Spike has a sturdier construction than the Gilmour spike. The threads are metal and not plastic.
If your hose connection nut is still intact, you can buy a Orbit Brass Hose Quick Connect Set 58117 and attach the male part (right) to the sprinkler and leave it attached permanently. The female part (left) attaches to the male fitting on your garden hose.Using the quick connect will make it easy to attach your garden hose to your sprinkler so you can set up your sprinkler faster. Since you won't be screwing and unscrewing that plastic nut all the time will reduce wear and strain on the plastic nut which will extend it's life.
These quick connect fittings also make it easy to switch between different wands. You can buy multiple Orbit Brass Quick Connect Male
fittings to attach to different hose end sprayers. Put one on your sprinklers, one on your spray head, one on your wand sprayer, one on your Dial-n-Spray and you can quickly switch between them. There are some cheaper plastic quick connect fittings but I like the brass ones. They are very sturdy and last a long time without leaks. I have had one on my pressure washer for years without issue.When not using your sprinkler try and keep it indoors or at least in the shade. Sunlight also degrades plastic.
Reducing Sprinkler Overspray and Mist
Even on days with very little wind, water from an in-ground sprinkler system can blow where you don't want it because the fine spray nozzles on traditional popup sprinklers create a lot of mist that is easily displaced by the slightest breeze. There's a quick and easy way to fix this!
When a large amount of water goes on your concrete instead of your grass you'll need to run your sprinklers longer to make sure your lawn gets the water it needs. Not only is this bad for the environment, especially if you live in an area prone to drought, but it increase your water bill as well.
There is an affordable solution that will reduce misting and overspray of your existing system and it's very simple to install. It only involves replacing your sprinkler nozzles. The new nozzles will give you a more even watering pattern, reduce your water usage and minimize overspray and misting.
Hunter MP Rotator Nozzles
The MP Rotator
nozzles are a fairly new innovation created by Walla Walls which was purchased by Hunter. Instead of broadcasting a fine mist spray they work like mini rotor sprinklers with multiple rotating streams.The larger droplet size is more resistant to wind which prevents the water from being blown away so more of it winds up on your lawn where you want it instead of your driveway and sidewalks where you don't.
The Hunter MP Rotator nozzles also have a lower precipitation rate compared to the old style spray nozzles. They put down about 1/3rd as much water which will allow the water to be absorbed by your soil and prevent runoff. You'll need to water your lawn about twice as long as you previously with spray heads but you're still saving 1/3rd the water.
MP Rotator Adjustment Tool
The Hunter Mp Rotator Adjusting Tool
makes it easy to adjust the radius and arc of your MP Rotator nozzles. The bright orange colors makes it easy to spot if you drop it in the grass. These are hard to find locally but Amazon has free shipping on it if you need one. They don't come with the nozzles.
Adustable Arcs
Spray heads come in fixed angles such as 90, 180, 270, 360. The MP Rotators have adjustable arcs which allow you to fine tune your angles to prevent putting water where you don't want it. Three different arc ranges are available, 45-105, 90-210, 210-270 and 360 degrees.
Adjustments are made by turning a ring around the nozzle using the adjusting tool.
Adjustable Radius
The radius can also be reduced on the MP Rotator nozzles so that you can adjust the spray pattern so it only applies water where you want. The radius is adjusted by turning a screw on the top of the nozzle while the nozzle is running. You can use a very small screwdriver or the MP Adjusting Tool.
Matched Precipitation
The MP in MP Rotator stands for matched precipitation which means no matter what arc angle or radius you set the precipitation rate will be roughly the same.
Hunter MP Rotators Vs Old Toro Sprinkler Nozzles
Watch this video comparing the old Toro Spray nozzles and the new Hunter MP Rotator nozzles. Both shots were taken within minutes of each other. The reduction in overspray and mist is very dramatic.
It was a very sunny day and the streams could only be picked up by my camera when close up. Before replacing the nozzles water was puddling on the sidewalk and driveway. Afterwards there was very little water on the sidewalk and most of it was due to not positioning one of the nozzles correctly.
This part of the yard is right next to the neighbors. With the old nozzles we'd be watering the neighbor's yard too!
The only draw back is that you'll need to reprogram your controller to water twice as long. You'll probably want to monitor the results and make adjustments up or down depending on how your lawn reacts but even though you'll be watering longer, you'll be using less water overall and not wasting water on your hardscape.
Another benefit of the low flow is that if something changed in your neighborhood that reduced the flow rate of your water system, either due to changes in the mains, or additional development in your area, replacing your existing nozzles with MP Rotators will make your system run like new again.
Male or Female Threads
The MP Rotator nozzles are available in either a male or female threaded version to fit different style popup sprinklers.
Female threaded MP Rotators will fit Hunter, Rain Bird, Nelson, Irritrol and Whethermatic sprinkler bodies.
Male threaded MP Rotatos will fit Toro popup bodies.
One of the heads in the test system was an Orbit sprinkler body that had a brass, male threaded nozzle. The MP rotator was too narrow to fit into this nozzle unfortunately. If you have these types of sprinkler bodies and want to use the MP Rotator you'll need to dig them out and replace them with something like the Hunter Pro Spray Body 4"
which takes the female threaded nozzles.
MP Rotator Versions
The MP Rotators come in different models. They are hard to find locally but a wide assortment can be found for a good price on Amazon.
MP1000
has a radius range of 8'-15'.MP2000
has a radius range of 13'-21'MP3000
has a radius range of 22'-31'All models, MP1000, MP2000 and MP3000 are available in 90-210, 210-270 and 360 degree arcs.
Specialty Nozzles
The MP rotator series also includes a few specialty nozzles.
MPCORNER
for tight spaces has an adjustable arc of 45-105 degrees with an adjustable radius of 8' to 15'.Side Strip: MPSS530
creates a rectangular spray pattern of 5' x 30' with the spray head in the middle of one of the long sides. The MPLCS515 and MPRCS515 are left and right corner strips that produces a 5'x15' spray.
How To Mount Rotor Sprinkler On Spike
I have a couple of Gilmour Metal Impulse Sprinklers on Zinc Spike Bases
. They work very well but they can be loud, even after using my technique to make them quieter so I decided to attach a Hunter PGP Adjustable Rotor Head
to the spike base.The gear driven rotor sprinklers are a lot quieter than the impact sprinklers. If you don't already have the impact sprinklers you can just buy the Gilmour Turbine Rotor Sprinkler With Polymer Spike Base
and not have to add the rotor head on it. I already had these impulse sprinklers so I decided to convert my impact sprinkler to a rotor sprinkler.The Hunter PGP Rotor Head is also recognized as one of the better gear driven sprinkler heads out there. These sprinklers are meant for in ground installations but I'll be using them above-ground on spike bases. By the way, if you already have the sprinkler heads you can also buy the Orbit Zinc Step Spike Base
to mount it on.
Quieter Than an Impact Sprinkler
Because the sprinkler is gear driven and doesn't use the impact from the swing arm to turn the sprinkler the Hunter PGP is considerably quieter than an impact sprinkler All you hear is the sound of the water spray. Here is a video of my sprinkler installed and running. The hunter PGP has a radius range of 20' to 46' which matches well with the impact sprinkler. Take a look at the video below to hear how quiet it is in action.
Materials
Since I already had the spikes from the impact sprinkers, to upgrade my impact sprinkler to a rotor I only needed to purchase the following two items:
Tools
Step 1: Remove Impact Sprinkler Head
The old impact sprinkler head is screwed on to the spike base. It comes off easy by turning it counter clockwise with a pair of pliers.
Step 2: Cut Down Cut-off Riser
The cut-off riser has multiple threaded sections on it. It is used when installing in-ground sprinklers to connect the lateral lines to sprinkler heads. It will also work to connect the Hunter PGP sprinkler to the spike base.
To get the sprinkler head close to the ground I elected to cut the riser down to the first threaded section. The riser cuts easily with a utility knife.
The cut section on the left is what will be used to attach the sprinkler head to the base.
Update: The cutoff riser is designed to be weaker than the other components so it breaks easily. I made the mistake of trying to push the sprinkler spike into the ground by holding it by the sprinkler body and not the metal spike base. The riser snapped. It's designed to do this because the riser is cheaper to replace than the sprinkler body or the other fittings which are either more expensive or more difficult to replace. I'm considering replacing the broken cutoff riser with either a metal or PVC 1/2" to 3/4" reducing nipple
which would be more durable. I would need to make sure to be careful handling the sprinkler since it would obviously break before the metal fitting.
Step 3: Attach Riser To Base
The thinner end of the nipple screws into the spike base using a clockwise motion. Make sure the threads are seated correctly because the plastic threads are easy to strip. I tightened as far as I could by hand and then continued with a pair of pliers to get it nice and snug.
Step 4: Attach Sprinkler Head To Riser
The final step is to screw the sprinkler head onto the top part of the riser. Again be careful to not mess up the threads.
I tightened the sprinkler head as much as I could by hand. At this point you're ready to connect the sprinkler to a garden hose, place it where you'd like and adjust the arc and radius to suit your needs. Instructions on how to adjust the sprinkler come with your sprinkler head.