I an going to be installing a brand-new underground sprinkler system in my backyard. The front yard is going to be xeriscaped so I’ll install driplines for the plants and soaker hoses for the little bit of grass. But in addition, I’m going to have a plumber come out and run waterlines to the front yard and install spigots (there are none out front currently).
So my question is how to best irrigate the front yard. I could theoretically run the underground sprinklers out front but that defeats the purpose of xeriscaping. I could run hose sprinklers off the spigots but that seems the worst choice. I’m thinking of having the plumber run two more waterlines to the front and have a dedicated irrigation system but I have no clue what that would even look like in terms of connecting the irrigation to the water line, pressure control, integrating the backflow system, turning on the system etc.
Depends on the plants but every xeriscape needs some water the first couple of years until the root system is fully developed. Even after that unless extreme xeriscaping the plants can still use a little water once a week.
Xeriscaping is low water not no water.
YES! However, some folks will still want plant life, so they go with plants that will require much less water than a lawn will need. Thus, there is still a need for irrigation.
To answer my fellow Coloradan’s question, I would have the plumber +/or landscaper install an underground system. Just be sure that they take into account our freezing winters. You will need an easy way to blow all of the water out of the system in the fall.
Assuming your sprinkler control box has an extra couple of zones, just have a couple of drip zones added and run to the front of the house. Any competent irrigation specialist will know what to do. You can set up separate programming schedules for the drip zones.
Drip irrigation, for the average home landscape (or xeriscape, if you must), is about the biggest waste of time, money, and water there is. The tubes are always springing leaks and most leaks go undetected for a long time. If the soil is good enough to allow the emitters to function properly the water is dispersed beneath the emitter by gravity and, slightly, by osmosis in a tear drop shape, which looks good until you consider most ornamental plants have a shallow root system and the drip has to run until the bed is flooded to wet the upper layer of the soil. And what I see more than anything is homeowners running drip zones for hours because they don’t think they’ve watered enough til they see it running down the street. I would have a licensed irrigator install a system because plumbers are terrible terrible terrible at it. Using pop up spray heads and variable arc MPR nozzles is the most efficient way to get plants the water they need without wasting any, you will have to shop around to find someone who uses them because, sadly, most irrigators aren’t happy unless they’re also wasting water. I have a 5000 square foot hybrid bermuda lawn in Texas that I water with MPR nozzles. I run each zone for about an hour and a half, beyond that time I start to have runoff. In an average summer I water twice, not 2x daily, not 2x weekly, not 2x monthly, but twice in one summer and it stays green. Really. Licensed Irrigator, Certified Irrigation Auditor.
