Which system is better for irrigation at back yard? Sprinkler or Drip?

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sunbaby

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My landscaper told me he would like to go with sprinkler for irrigation system in my back yard, as some of his customers complained a lot for the quality issue of the drip system. And he cannot provide any warranty on it if I stick with Drip.

However, looks like Drip System is more and more popular these days. Some of my friends used it for a while ( no more than 1 yr ) and told me it was not bad. Then in a long term, which one you guys preferred? Share some of your experience here please  :D
 
Would also like to hear from someone whose been using drip for extended period of time and has a good experience with it.

One of my landscapers said don't use it because bugs can get in and clog it over time and it's a huge hassle.  Another said he always uses micro drip and he's been using it for years without issues and it saves a lot of water.
 
I converted a sprinkler system to drip irrigation about 2 months ago for my planters. So far I am happy with it. The thing that I like the most is that water is used efficiently. Before the sprinkler would be spraying water all over the planter area, now I only see patches of wet dirt around the plants base.
 
aquabliss said:
Would also like to hear from someone whose been using drip for extended period of time and has a good experience with it.

One of my landscapers said don't use it because bugs can get in and clog it over time and it's a huge hassle.  Another said he always uses micro drip and he's been using it for years without issues and it saves a lot of water.
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Exactly the same here!
My landscaper even not going to make any warranty with drip system, but can warrant sprinklers for 1 year. Looks like he's not confident at drip system at all...

However, another landscaper I know sticks with drip system for all the yards he developed.
 
I have both sprinklers for the lawn & bushes and drip for some special plants & potted items using little hoses tapped into the existing sprinkler system (devised by my live-in handyman.) So far so good.
 
I don't see how you can use a drip system for a lawn.

You can do it for bushes, plants etc but for the span of a lawn, how is a drip system even possible? Must be those micro backyards in Irvine. :)
 
SoCal said:
I have both sprinklers for the lawn & bushes and drip for some special plants & potted items using little hoses tapped into the existing sprinkler system (devised by my live-in handyman.) So far so good.
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Do you use a pressure regulator going to the drip lines or just an adapter without any pressure regulation?
 
one of the things to look out for with drip systems is to make sure you dont crimp/bend the hose/tube. all of the alley loaded homes where i live have drip systems for the alley landscaping.  when i moved in i noticed one of the hoses sticking out through the mulch and there happened to be a hole exposed and i noticed there was no water coming out. them i moved the mulch and dug up some dirt and noticed is was dry as can be.  called the builder and they fixed it but there were a couple of places where the curved the tube instead of using the connectors to change direction and the tube was crimping and water was not coming through. a lot of the HOA, if not most, of the landscaping they are responsible for is on drip systems and they seem to work just fine.  i think it is bullshit of your landscaper doesnt want to install one and warranty. they are either lazy or dont know how to install them.  many of my neighbors have drip systems for the plants in their front yards are doing just fine.
 
test said:
SoCal said:
I have both sprinklers for the lawn & bushes and drip for some special plants & potted items using little hoses tapped into the existing sprinkler system (devised by my live-in handyman.) So far so good.
Click to expand...

Do you use a pressure regulator going to the drip lines or just an adapter without any pressure regulation?
Click to expand...

No pressure regulator. It's a long, porous tube. No nozzles. It's not a perfect science. They are connected to the sprinklers so they are not on very long. 
 
My gardener fixes my irrigation system no charge... as long as it's not replacing anything expensive... he always has spare sprinkler heads and what not.
 
We have both. We have drip for our plants and bushes in the backyard, and sprinkler system for the front lawn and plants. Drip system works very well and provided water very evenly without a waste.  Sprinkler system is fine for the grass but for plants, it results in uneven watering as the plants get bigger and block the sprinkler's spray.  Hence, I am thinking about converting front plant sprinkler system to drip system as well. This http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FK256C/ allows to convert one sprinkler to a source for drip system water. It can then be connected to the emitter tubing which can be laid down under the surface.
 
Drip system parts are relatively inexpesnive and can be found next to sprinkler heads at Lowe's and Home Depot.  The issue with drip system is that if it shars the same "zone" as sprinklers in your system, you may have issues with either running the sprinklers for too long or not long enough for the drip system.  You have to calculate the outlet and emitter GPH accordingly.
 
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