086571553X by Steve Solomon

Author:Steve Solomon
Language: eng
Format: epub

Figure 6.8: Simultaneously operating several correctly spaced sprinklers creates overlapping water patterns, permitting uniform coverage. The optimal spacing between sprinklers is about 60 to 70 percent of the sprinkler's throw radius. Left side: Sprinklers arranged in triangular patterns. Right side: Sprinklers correctly overlapped, arranged in square patterns.

The less-watered fringes can, however, be useful for growing a dry garden or for locating tall perennials, especially if you're using low-angle sprinklers (to be explained shortly). Putting a line of raspberries or climbing beans right along the beginning of the dry fringe intercepts all the overspray so that it drips off the leaves and concentrates in this row. In this way, the hedge gets about as much water as is deposited in the middle of the sprinklers' patterns, and nothing much goes past it.

Sometimes sprinkler patterns are laid out in squares, sometimes in triangular patterns. The triangular method spreads water slightly more uniformly, but the square pattern may lend itself better to the backyard situation. The shorter the designed radius of the sprinkler is, the smaller the fringe area will be, making short-radius, low-angle sprinklers preferable for backyard gardens.

Probably the single most useful, inexpensive, and highly durable agricultural-quality impulse sprinkler available is the Naan 501, made in Israel. It

comes with assorted nozzle sizes, designated in metric. The best are the 1.8 or

2.0 millimetre nozzles, which is close to /16 inch. Naans are available through many big irrigation and farm suppliers, who can order them through their wholesale sources if they don't actually stock them. I have used Naan sprinklers since the early 1980s. The best of the Naan range is designated as model 501U, because the 501 all by itself is nothing but the sprinkler head, which requires supports and feeder systems for proper installation. The cost of all these bits exceeds the price of the sprinkler. However, the "U" model comes with a one-meter-tall (slightly over one-yard-tall) metal support rod that holds the sprinkler head well above most vegetable crops, and a feeder pipe with a seven-millimetre (about 14 inch), quick-disconnect barbed fitting at the end — all ready to go. If the supplier you contact does not have the 501U in stock, don't let him or her fob off the lesser items on you. Demand a special order and wait a few weeks until it comes in.

If you are using these, I strongly suggest you also purchase a special seven-millimetre punch to insert the barbs into the supply lines. If you make these holes with a nail, they'll leak. The punch only costs a few dollars and will last a lifetime.

Some gardeners try to eliminate fringe areas by using impact sprinklers with part-circle mechanisms, locating sprinklers at the edges or corners of the garden. Generally this practice has more disadvantages than the gardener realizes. Keep in mind that cutting the arc in half doubles the rate of application; cutting it to 90° quadruples the rate of application. Part-circle sprinklers have two other flaws. First, you need a rather large-bore nozzle to

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