My Do-It-Yourself Watering System
by Fred Kreger
We all know that watering bonsai and garden beds is a time-consuming job. My first experience with a watering system was installing a sprinkler system in my wife's orchid greenhouse. This was not a big job because the greenhouse is only 6 feet by 8 feet. The hardest part of this job was running the water pipe underground. (Digging in my yard is not the easiest thing due to the root system of the large oak tree in the middle of the yard.) The system is made of PVC pipe and spray beads, with a battery operated timer controlling the watering.
One day when I was visiting Lenny Cardenal's Japanese Garden, I noticed his excellent watering system. Lenny told me that he and Pete Mistich had installed it. At one of our Bonsai meetings, while I was complimenting Pete on the great job of installing Lenny's system, he mentioned that he would be glad to help me install mine. Boy, did I take him up on that statement!
Pete and Lenny arrived early one morning. They brought the timer and valves, and I had the PVC pipe and fittings on hand, to set up a four stage watering system. Pete and Lenny did the designing, while I helped with the installations (the digging was left to me).
We set up four separate zones of watering: two zones for watering bonsai plants, and the other two zones for garden beds. One garden zone extends for about 50 feet. The other zone is around a large oak tree (I have since extended this zone another 25 feet to another garden bed). The PVC pipe supplies the water to each garden bed and the bonsai. Black flexible tubing is used throughout the garden beds. Risers with sprinkler heads are then plugged into the black tubing. Individual valves are made into a manifold and are controlled by an electric timer which operates the system.
My bonsai plants are placed on benches. We used 1/2" PVC pipe to run along the benches, pulling the risers into the pipe and attaching the spray heads. The pipe is clamped to the benches. It is easy to attach the risers by drilling a hole in the plastic pipe. Here is a list of material that is needed for this type of watering system:
- PVC pipe, both 3/4" dia. and 1/2" dia.
- PVC fittings and glue
- 1/2" black poly pipe (100 ft. rolls)
- Water Master automatic in-line advance diaphragm control valve. One for each zone.
- Water Master sprinkler timer
- Electrical outlet
- 1/4" risers and spray heads (risers come in different lengths)
In each zone I have added a plastic drain valve to drain all water in case of a freeze.
The valves and timer along with PVC pipe and fittings can be purchased at hardware or home product stores. The 1/2" Poly pipe, risers and spray beads can be purchased from stores that sell irrigation equipment.
It has been recommended that the exposed PVC pipe be painted to prevent build-up caused by exposure to the sun from forming inside the pipe.
Anyone interested in installing a watering system of their own is welcome to come see how mine has evolved.
My gratitude to Lenny and Pete for sharing their knowledge and hard work. It was a lot of fun!