Anyone ever use a lawn sprinkler?

Paradox

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So Im thinking ahead to my trip to the National Show and I will be away from my trees for 4 days. In the beginning of September, we still can get some warm days and we have had very few rain days this summer so I cant rely on rain to make sure my trees have enough water.

I am going to try using a timer and a regular oscillating lawn sprinkler similar to this one:
sprinkler.jpg

I am wondering how often and how long I should set the timer for?
Right now Im thinking once a day for 2 hours?

Anyone have any experience using one of these or similar to water their trees?
Advice or thoughts about whether that will be enough water for them?

Thanks
 

coh

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A few years ago I tried a similar set up. We went away for 3 days in August. I moved my trees into a shady spot under a large tree, and set up 2 or 3 sprinklers on a timer. Also had a neighbor come over and check/water if needed. The sprinklers seemed to work pretty well.

Make sure you test for a couple of days prior to leaving. Set them up in the locations and for the time periods you think will work, and let them go. See how good the coverage is, whether all the trees get watered enough. I put my trees in the shade just in case the watering failed or didn't provide enough coverage, that way there was a little less likelihood that things would get dried out too badly. If you don't have that option, it's certainly riskier.

I think I had the timer set to come on twice a day, morning and late afternoon. Can't recall how long each session was.
 

AaronThomas

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I would think maybe 2 would work better then one.
@sorce Geeze... a guy takes off for a couple of weeks and sorce hits the 10k mark!!!! WOOT
 

Eric Group

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I have always used one... Works fine. I generally run mine in the morning and evening for about 15 minutes. Left trees for 3-4+ days in mid summer here in the blazing hot south and they are fine...

Always better to just have a friend come over and do the watering for you though. I got sick of moving all my trees when I went out of town... Took me HOURS the last time I had to do it, then had to move them all around again when I came back!
 

Paradox

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I have always used one... Works fine. I generally run mine in the morning and evening for about 15 minutes. Left trees for 3-4+ days in mid summer here in the blazing hot south and they are fine...

Always better to just have a friend come over and do the watering for you though. I got sick of moving all my trees when I went out of town... Took me HOURS the last time I had to do it, then had to move them all around again when I came back!

I would rather not burden someone with 45 min to 1 hour worth of watering every day. I have a feeling it wouldnt get done after the first day.

I only need to move about 20 trees down to the other area where my trees are and where the sprinkler will be.

Im testing out the timer tomorrow morning.
 

Eric Group

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It will work fine... 2 hours is overkill in my opinion, but too much water is better than not enough!
 

CWTurner

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I use a sprinkler often. About 45 minutes satisfies me.
As for timerz, I used the one Lowes sells,and it failed the first time I left town. No real harm luckily.
A compromise might be a mechanical (water powered) timer. Just have a friend come and twist the knob to 45 minutes and then leave.
CW
 
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So Im thinking ahead to my trip to the National Show and I will be away from my trees for 4 days. In the beginning of September, we still can get some warm days and we have had very few rain days this summer so I cant rely on rain to make sure my trees have enough water.

I am going to try using a timer and a regular oscillating lawn sprinkler similar to this one:
View attachment 115615

I am wondering how often and how long I should set the timer for?
Right now Im thinking once a day for 2 hours?

Anyone have any experience using one of these or similar to water their trees?
Advice or thoughts about whether that will be enough water for them?

Thanks
I travel a lot for work and have a fair collection of trees that are watered by sprinklers on timers quite a bit from month to month. Trial and error will yield you much. Tree placement relative your sprinklers and timer duration can make all the difference in the world. Experiment with the timers/sprinklers as much as you can before the trip to figure out what should go where and how to adjust. You'll likely enjoy your trip more as well knowing you're not rolling the dice at home with watering.
 

PiñonJ

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Most of my trees are on automatic watering with individual pot sprayers (see @markyscott's post on automatic watering). But this past June when I went on vacation, it was so hot and dry that I wanted my new yamadori to get their canopies wet and also to wet down the gravel they were sitting on. So I got this sprinkler from Home Depot. It sprays in a good sized round pattern, is dirt-simple, with no moving parts, and is self-clearing. I got a timer that would water four times per day and just did two minutes per watering, since all of these trees still had a root ball of native soil. It worked perfectly for my purposes.
image.jpeg
 

GrimLore

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Im testing out the timer tomorrow morning.

If we leave for a few days I do the same only with a single pulsating unit after placing all the plants on one side of the yard. I setup the timer for 2 minutes at 5AM and PM. The length of time is going to be your biggest part to test as coverage varies greatly between brand and types. My timer allows for manual testing and yours may as well. ;)

I find it to be reliable enough so far that I don't have it checked. I do live in a situation where water and power is rarely lacking. I also find once all is tested for as infrequently as it is used(5-6 times a year) it has lasted at least 5 years now without fail. Only advice other then that is to dry the units, remove the batteries and store indoors for the Winter.

Safe travels!

Grimmy
 

JudyB

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All good suggestions. As others have said, do more than one. And do them from different sides, so the wind won't be a factor. Twice a day if your timer lets you. For a few days, it doesn't matter if they stay wetter than normal.
 

Paradox

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lol @sorce
No beavers here fortunately

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Im still learning how to program the timer right. It came on this morning but never shut off. I got home and measured 2 inches of water in the test buckets I left out...lol

Fortunately unless its a tropical storm, wind isnt a big factor in my yard. Im up in the middle of the woods so there is good wind blockage. My wind meter never matches what the real wind values are locally.
 
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CWTurner

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You might also consider placing a pan (or rain gauge) out while the sprinkler is on, so that you can judge how much water/hour gets delivered. Then compare that to what it takes to properly soak your plants and adjust your watering time as needed.
CW
 

Giga

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I did just this for 6 days in spring early this year. I had no one to house/bonsai sit so I put all my bonsai together all 52 of them and put 2 of those sprinklers in the middle going in each direction. I set the timer for 30 mins in the morning and 30 mins late afternoon. I bought the best timer I could find and it worked perfectly.
 
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