Customer Reviews

Garden Watering Systems

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
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I bought this book specifically in order to learn how to implement a drip irrigation system, and find that it isn't helping me much. I live in a climate where unirrigated plants die - even most xeric plants - so the discussion of hand-watering as a valid "irrigation" strategy is..., well, a little off-topic for my needs. The section on drip irrigation overlaps quite a bit with the free guides that are available from some of the drip irrigation manufacturers. The phrase "ask your irrigation equipment supplier" pops up any time the subject gets a little tricky - usually exactly at the point where I was hoping to get one of my big questions answered.

If you already know what kind of a project you want to do and are looking for some serious do-it-yourself information, I recommend that you do what I should have done - buy a book that is more targeted toward your specific needs and skip this general overview. I think that this book would be most helpful for people who have an established garden and watering plan, but aren't completely happy with it. If you want to cut down on your water usage and/or the effort you spend on watering, but don't know what your options are, this book may help you decide on your next step and, perhaps more importantly, motivate you to do it.

Sunset's Garden Watering Systems do-it-yourself manual is an excellent guide. I knew little to nothing about micro-irrigation before reading the manual. I needed to learn quickly for a project on drip irrigation. Sunset's logical layout with lots of explanatory pictures helped me understand the fundamentals (and intricacies) of drip irrigation. The terminology used was not difficult to understand for a beginner and they even include a glossary. The index was really useful to for quick reference. I recommend this book for any person who wants to learn about or install irrigation systems.

Although I am stating that this book is a little to basic, maybe what I was looking for was just more then this book was intended to deliver. I was looking for a book to help calculate how many zones were needed, what type of sprinkler heads, etc. This book had great photographs and basic knowledge. If you are ready to design and install your own system you might want a more detailed book.

Before you spend money on any "How To" book , you need to ask yourself at what level of knowledge and expertise you're at. This book isn't bad for a novice wanting to put in a basic system. It does go through the myriad examples of sprinkler types and how efficient they are and the suitability for a particular application. But just like most fields, irrigation is evolving quickly as regards new materials, products and standards. Overall, I feel this book gives good solid information for a do - it - yourselfer. The author does a good job explaining the theories involved with building a home irrigation system. You can save a lot of money installing your own system. You can also cause a lot of damage doing it incorrectly. This book can give you a good idea whether you can tackle installing a system or not. Use this book along with careful planning, to know what questions to ask either a sprinkler supply distributor or to hire an irrigation contractor.