Are you looking to learn and incorporate a way to use your existing sprinkler system into your planned outdoor garden? I'm sharing with you some tips and tricks based on what we've learned by installing our own raised garden and incorporating our sprinkler system in our backyard to water our plants. I'll also share with you what we would do over again if we had the opportunity to do so.
Retrofitting either a drip irrigation system or mister from your existing lawn’s sprinkler system can be a complex installation project. But with the right preparation, materials, and tips, you can accomplish adding a new line into your garden in just under a few hours.
In This Post
Overview of DIY Existing Sprinkler into Garden for Watering
For this project, there will definitely be a lot of sweat equity that you'll have to put in. This means digging up the existing sprinkler heads while taking care not to break any of the existing pipes as well as a lot of cutting of PVC pipe.
Project Duration
This project took the course of a weekend to complete, but that time did not include building the raised garden. Modifying the existing line, piping and feeding it into the garden, and adding the new head took the course of a full weekend.
Tips Before Incorporating Sprinkler System into a Garden
Identify Your Sprinkler Head and Positioning Garden
You'll need to identify where your sprinkler head is by turning on your sprinkler. To make this project easy, you'll want to position the new head centered where the garden is.
Water Pressure and Length of New Sprinkler System
Once the sprinkler head is identified, you will want to measure the water pressure prior to the project. Next, you'll need to estimate the change of the water pressure based on the length of the new sprinkler system. You'll want to be careful to replace with enough pressure in the modified system. Since each system is unique, we can't be as prescriptive when recommending the size of the PVC pipe. Water pressure should be between 30-50 psi.
Project Timing
In locations and regions where outdoor water pipes are blown out, you may want to cap off the line that is not being used.
Installing Sprinkler Head
When installing the sprinkler head, our recommendation is to extend it high to get it above the plants. so that the water falls down. While evaporation could happen, we haven't had it be a large problem. If we had to do it all over again, we would do a drip irrigation system. It would take a lot more effort, but it wouldn't waste as much water.
How to Incorporate Existing Sprinkler Line into Garden
Learn how to make a garden sprinkler with these easy DIY tips and tricks in this tutorial. Learn what to do and not do!
Materials
- PVC pipe
- Carriage bolts
- PVC glue
- Mister
Tools
- PVC Pipe Cutters
Instructions
- Find a sprinkler that is already in place in your garden.
- Place the sprinkler in the center of your landscape design.
- Remove the sprinkler head. Cut off the old sprinkler.
- Replace the old sprinkler heads with the new ones.
- Build a new hard-piped line.
- PVC pipe should be cut at a 45-degree angle.
- To install a sprinkler system, simply drive it to the ground.
- Re-insert the new line.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Embedded Sprinkler System with Garden
You do not need an excavator, but you need to know where the old sprinkler system is located. This can easily be done by just turning on the sprinkler and seeing where the heads water.
Summary About Garden Sprinkler
An existing sprinkler system can be extended to water your garden. While it isn't complicated, it will take work trenching the dirt as well as finding the heads and adding the PVC connectors together.
You can choose to have the same sprinkler heads, add a drip irrigation system, or a mister, but the results are that you'll be able to water your garden easily with a control box from your existing sprinkler system.
Compared to the old-fashioned way of watering your plants with a hose, sprinkler systems are more water-efficient since they only utilize as much water as is necessary. Also, a sprinkler system is a great way to ensure that your landscape is always watered even when you forget about it!
Uswc
This is a poorly written article for several reasons.
1. If you have a raised head in you system, you need to ensure you pvb is at least 12” higher then that of your highest head. Why? Because a pvb ensures you don’t suck nasty water into the potable water supply from your sprinkler system.
2. If you are going to tap the sprinkler off an existing run, you need to make sure the heads on the run are of the same type. I.e. don’t mix spray heads with rotor type heads. Why? Because the rotor puts down water at a completely different rate than a spray. The 30mins it takes for a rotor to water the lawn, takes a spray head about 15 mins. So you will over water the garden if you tap your rotor line to feed sprays in the garden.
3. You never defined why there is 1-1/2” pvc running up to the head that is clearly a 1/2” spray. It’s not at all clear why something would be done this way. Beside having expose pvc will lead to plastic leaching into your food garden.