Sprinkler Personalities

I mapped all the sprinklers in our yard today, which was no small task.  We have over an acre of land to keep watered.  So far this year, we are failing miserably.  The sprinkling system is forty years old, and it's breaking down.  Every spring we have a few more broken parts to replace, in addition to the sprinklers that the boys have unsuccessfully jumped over, or hit with the lawn mower.  It's a big job.

This year, there was more broken than working, so I had to drag a sprinkler around the yard on a hose.  It was a royal pain in the patootie, especially since I have a hard time remembering to move the water every hour.  I could get all the way around our property every three or four days, but by then there were dying patches at the beginning again.  Much of our yard is thirsty, wilting, parched, and looking pathetic.  Just as I was feeling hopeless and about to give up, Alec chipped in to help me with the sprinklers.  Or he was assigned to the chore.  Either way, it was the same end result: most of the zones are working now.

I really didn't know which sprinklers watered which areas, and I didn't have a master plan, so this afternoon I made one.  I turned on each of the zones, and walked around the yard with  map and a colored pencil.  I colored and outlined, and enjoyed being outside.

The best part (aside from getting unepectedly sprinkled) was seeing the personalities of the sprinklers.  Some were ace performers.  Others were underachievers.  Some just refused to do anything but bubble or flood.  One sprinkler shoots thirty feet into the air (I'm not exaggerating) before letting the water hit the lawn.  I think that one was the captain of the cheer team.  Another zone has fourteen little sprinklers, all lined up like expectant kindergarteners on their first day of school.  The best one is an old Rainbird impact sprinkler perched precariously atop a three-foot pipe.  The sprinkler itself was trying so hard to shoot that it made the pipe wobble crazily.  To make matters worse, there are three leaks in the connection and the pipe itself, making water squirt unceremoniously in all directions.  Poor thing.  I think Alec and I will put it out of its misery tomorrow.