Drip irrigation vs. spray irrigation? Hunter vs. Rainbird? Install it yourself or hire a lawn irrigation company?
These are some of the questions you need to ask—and answer—before you invest in a lawn irrigation system.
Here’s a lawn irrigation comparison guide to help get you started.
Drip Irrigation vs. Spray Irrigation
The answer to this question lies in your lawn’s layout. But first, a primer on the virtues of both drip and spray systems.
Traditionally, spray (or sprinkler) irrigation has been more commonly used for lawns. It involves using rotating sprinkler heads to spray water across a large swath of lawn. It’s a way to deliver a large amount of water to a large amount of land in a relatively quick period of time.
Drip irrigation systems drop precise amounts of water on very specific areas of your lawn. They’re great for small patches of lawn or gardens.
So which one is right for your lawn?
If you have a large lawn that is mostly grass, you’re probably going to want to use spray irrigation. If your lawn is mostly garden, with flowers and plants, a drip irrigation system will probably work best. Of course if you’ve got a lawn that has both large patches of grass and smaller gardens, you probably want to use both systems.
Copious vs. Calculated
Water conservation is another factor you may want to consider. Even if you have a lawn that includes both large patches of grass and gardens, you can install and use a spray system and hit every area with water.
The upside to this approach is that you’ll only have to concern yourself with one type of system. The downside to this approach is that copious amounts of water will be consumed—and your gardens may be overwatered.
Combining spray and drip lawn irrigation components will afford you better control over the water dispersion and allow you to calculate the exact amount of water you want used in your garden. This will save water.
Hunter vs. Rainbird (or Another Brand Entirely)
A lawn sprinkler system is a big financial investment, so you want to make sure to get the most spray (or drip) for your buck. This means selecting parts manufactured by a brand you trust.
While you are certain to have a lot of options, Hunter and Rainbird are two quality brands that are affordable.
Rainbird has been around since 1933, and is well-respected in the industry. It makes more than 4,000 parts for lawn sprinkler systems and does a good job of providing support to companies that sell its products.
Overall, Rainbird makes high-quality parts, has a track record of success and is committed to meeting the needs of the people who buy their products. If there were an Olympics for lawn sprinkler system companies, Rainbird would make the podium, but the company wouldn’t take home the gold.
The gold medal in the lawn sprinkler system Olympics would go to Hunter.
There’s a reason Hunter is the international leader in lawn sprinkler system manufacturing: The company makes outstanding products.
Family-owned and committed to customer service, Hunter systems can be found everywhere—in city parks around the world, in the largest outdoor stadiums in the country and in front yards in towns and cities across New Jersey.
They make products built to last, and when things go wrong (which sometimes they do), Hunter has a robust warranty and customer service that goes above and beyond. You can’t go wrong with a Hunter system.
Spend or Save
When it comes to lawn irrigation systems, there are ways to save money—and some of them might even make sense.
The first consideration is whether you should install the system yourself or hire a professional. A lot of people think they will save a lot of money by installing the system themselves, only to discover that it’s a lot more complicated, time consuming and expensive than they originally thought.
Hiring a lawn irrigation company will save you a lot of headaches—and it could actually save you money.
A trained professional will do all of the planning, material sourcing and design for you. Your technician will also do all the heavy digging (and lifting) and make sure that everything is properly connected, built to meet local zoning requirements and working properly. And, if anything isn’t exactly right, your technician will fix the problem.
If you do it yourself, you might save money initially, but you’ll also be required to spend extra money down the road if something goes wrong. You will also have to handle your own warranties.
One way to save money is on components. Naturally, the more durable and hearty the components, the more they’ll cost. Your technician will be able to help you pick the right components for your yard—and some might be less expensive than you thought you’d need.
Your technician might also be able to help you maximize your system’s layout so you’re not spending money on piping and heads in areas of your lawn that can be covered by other heads.
In the end, it usually winds up costing less to hire a highly trained lawn sprinkler contractor to work with you on your lawn sprinkler system’s installation.
Once you have the system up and running, you might be tempted to save money by skipping the startup and winterization maintenance.
Don’t.
The money you save will mean little if you have to pay to repair expensive cracks and leaks in the pipes.
