Schedule as of 9/28/2021
Sunday Tuesday Thursday Saturday
Stations run consecutively
356 gallons total per day
(Shrubblers used 495 gallons, and did not water trees or front plants)
Times:
Station 1 starts 5:00 a.m. / runs 1 hour
Station 2 starts 6:00 a.m. / runs 1 hour
Station 3 starts 7:00 a.m. / runs 1 hour
Station 4 starts 8:00 a.m. / runs 20 min.
Station 5 starts 8:20 a.m. / runs 45 min.
Station 6 starts 9:05 a.m. / runs 45 min.
End: 9:50 a.m.
I thought my Shrubblers were a unique system for watering without full irrigation. But the installed in-ground irrigation system is exactly the same, including the tiny 1/4 inch emitter sleeves that slide over outlets in buried tubes. This system is just way more robust, bigger, with multiple lines for different zones.
And there is adequate pressure now.
Watering the trees
What I don't understand is why the emitters for trees are circled right at the trunk base, touching the trunks in many cases, and watering only a few inches around the trunks. The small feeder roots that need the water are out several feet away from the main stem. But that's how all irrigation systems are installed.
The trunks get soaking wet, the water pools right at the base of the tree, and the drip line stays dry.
Watering the gardens
The emitters in the gardens do exactly what the little Shrubbler caps did, wetting tiny areas right at each plant. But because there are so many more of them, everything gets covered and I'm not relying on one tiny emitter to cover an area.
I do have to hand water a lot, especially in hot dry weather. The emitters put a little bit down in a tiny area around each plant, enough to keep them alive, but not enough for them to thrive in hot, sunny conditions.
Especially around the birdbath, where soaker hoses circle the base rather than individual emitters. The soakers only wet a small circular path and don't reach most of the perennials there.