Installing a sprinkler system in your garden lets you spend less time watering it and more time enjoying it. It will also ensure your garden is getting enough water at the right time of day. A sprinkler system is fairly inexpensive to do and can be completed in under an hour.
Here I’ll be breaking down the plans for our garden sprinkler systems. The best part is these plans can be adjusted to fit your needs.
THE PLANS
Since our garden is u-shaped, we will be following that same shape for our sprinklers. Here is a top view of the garden and here is how we will be mapping the irrigation lines.
THE SUPPLIES
- Sprinkler Heads
- 18” PVC Riser
- 1/2” PVC Pipe
- 1/2″ PVC Tee Fitting
- 1/2″ PVC Elbow Fitting
- 1/2” PVC Side Outlet Elbow Fitting
- PVC Cement
Garden Hose to PVC Connection:
- 3/4” PVC Adapter Fitting
- 3/4” FIP Adapter Fitting with Threaded Female Hose
- 3/4” x 1/2″ PVC Reducer
THE TOOLS
- PVC Cutter
- Tape Measure
ASSEMBLING THE GARDEN HOSE CONNECTION
To start, we need to connect our water source (a garden hose) to a PVC pipe. Here is a breakdown of the parts we used to do that. Since the garden hose is 3/4,” we need to add a PVC reducer to convert the 3/4” diameter garden hose down to a 1/2” diameter for the 1/2″ PVC piping.
ASSEMBLING THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM
Our plan is to place a sprinkler every 4 feet. In order to do this we cut our 1/2″ PVC pipe down to 4-foot sections. From there we simply used PVC Cement to attach the 4-foot sections to the PVC fittings according to our plans (pictured above).
When purchasing the PVC Fittings, you want to look for fittings that have one threaded opening. This is where the sprinklers will attached
Once everything was in place we simply threaded in the risers and added the sprinkler heads. At this point, you can always test to be sure there are no areas leaking water before covering them with dirt.
And there you have it— Installing a sprinkler system is an efficient solution to water your garden. Enjoy the extra time in the garden!
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7 Responses
Your garden is of dreams. We are starting out to build our first raised garden bed and we need to have at least 6-7 feet tall fence to save produce from Deers. Since your garden is far away from the house, how did you bring in the water supply to the main spout? Did you dig line from the house to the garden? Thanks!
Aw thank you for the kind words Namrata! Wow, it’s so amazing how different areas have such different predators! Yes, we used black irrigation hose (from Lowes) and ran it from our main spout on the house out to our garden. It doesn’t have the best water pressure in the world, but it does the trick. We do not have it below our frost line either, so we need to be sure to clear it out in late fall. Hope that helps!
I’ve been on your webpage for a long time! Your DIY projects are the same kind of projects I’d like to tackle and this is the 3rd time I’ve thought to myself “she has the best instructions”! Thank you for posting all the pictures! So often I’ve wondered if some of the bloggers are cutting corners by blogging things they’re not actually creating themselves, but with your blog, not only is the evidence there, but having all the pictures makes your instructions very clear!
Aw thank you so much for the kind words Kelli! I really appreciate it and I’m so glad my blog posts are helpful to you!
I enjoyed your Blog. As a commercial installer for commercial/residential properties projects. I would suggest completing the loop and making the lateral run a complete loop. This will give you a more complete ability for flow and pressure needed for the risers. For blowing out system for the lateral zone, just add a small gate value near one of the risers with a tee with a 1/2 threaded plug. Or you could attach a automatic drain at the lowest point. If this is attached to you lawn sprinkler system, I would always try to up sell a loop main line system to give the system the ability for higher flow; if your business or neighborhood ever has a increase for demand on the feed from the street you could loose pressure. Normal design concepts for a lateral drip or spray zone would be to T up and split the zone in two halves. This provides a more even zone for the end spray nozzles. I would also suggest using 1 inch PVC for all lateral zones; when downsize you limit flow/pressure at the end of the zone. I would use the same concept for designing a drip system; run a lateral loop, Tee up and only do runs of 50 ft max going each direction from the PVC tee.( Call you local Toro, Hunter, or Rainbird distributors and ask then when their next 3 day short course is going to be for Irrigation Design, and for Irrigation Service. Normally offered in the Spring. (You can also from short courses on Commercial outdoor Lighting, Drainage, Lawn Care, Hardscaping, Greenhouse: types of Varieties like Easter Lilies/other) This would allow you Blog with more of a Commercial approach or expand into other types of Landscape projects with a commercial approach. ) I have a 5,000 ft vegetable garden and process my garden food using methods with Canning, dehydrating, freezing. i was in different fields of Horticulture as a Foreman/Sales, irrigation Service Tech/Installer, Lawn Care, and Landscaper for 25 yrs for large scale projects. (Also did design work for landscaping/irrigation) Please feel free to email me if you ever want a second opinion on a design concept.
This is amazing and valuable information, thanks so much for sharing! I would love to look into one of those irrigation classes. Thanks again for sharing this info!