When planning your Ann Arbor MI irrigation system, you need to consider the type of systems available to use. The purpose of an irrigation system is to simply water your lawn and landscape, making sure water gets to the plants so they can thrive. Different types of landscaping have different needs and different types of plants have their own unique watering needs. Matching the system to your landscape is easier by engaging a professional company to design and install your irrigation systems.
Pop-up Sprinkler Systems
Most landscape systems consist of a series of PVC pipes buried in the yard. At intervals, the pipes are interrupted by a piece of riser tube or piping that supports a sprinkler. There are many different types and models of sprinklers on the market today. The advantages of this type of system are:
• The pop-up model is enclosed in a larger tube and when not in use settles into that tube and lies flush with the lawn’s surface.
• This type of sprinkler usually has a pivoting head that rotates in an arc to cover a specific portion of your lawn.
• Replacement of this type of head is easy and is usually accomplished by just unscrewing the old unit and screwing in the new head.
Depending on the size of the installation, the installer may elect to use a “rain-bird” type of head. These units are usually brass instead of the plastic pop-ups. This type of head is designed to deliver a larger volume of water to a wider area. Rain-birds can also designed to sink into a tube and lay flush with the lawn, although by necessity the tubes are larger and usually have the added complication of some type of cover that closed over the tube.
Drip or Soaker Systems
Landscapes with a large planting of shrubs may be a good candidate for irrigation systems that deliver a low-pressure volume of water on more or less continuous basis. These drip or trickle systems also have the advantage of:
• Delivering water directly to the root zone of the plants,
• Reduced water lost to evaporation or run-off.
The idea here is that the system maintains a constant low pressure throughout the system, and emitters located along the main lines drip water at a preset rate to the base of the plant. From there gravity does the work of drawing the water to the plants root zone. A disadvantage of this system is that some plants can become lazy, and will not develop a deep root system. In times of drought, or when the system is not working, these shallow rooted plants are in danger of dying from lack of water faster than plants with a more robust and deeper set of roots.
Whichever system you decide to have installed, you will need to consider the Ann Arbor MI winters. An irrigation system that is too shallow can easily freeze in winter and result in burst pipes and emitters. Your landscaping professional can help you winterize your system so it can be brought on-line without any problems in spring.
Get your yard looking its absolute best with custom landscaping solutions from Twin Oaks. Find us online at https://www.twinoakslandscape.biz/, visit us in Ann Arbor, MI at 4100 South Maple Road, or call us at (734) 213-6911.
