Hillbilly Sprinkler v1.0 in action!
Woot! It is amazing what a trip to Lowe’s and about $8 in parts can do. Behold the Incredible, Amazing and truly Fab Hillbilly Garden Sprinkler v1.0.
OK, Bri — calm down and give the people some background…
How to water my 32′ x 32′ garden has been vexing me since it was built. When the transplants were new a nice oscillating sprinkler did the trick until it stopped working one day and I returned it. A couple other sprinklers were experimented with, but as the plants grew it became obvious that some elevation was needed so the taller plants wouldn’t block the water streams.
Mom let me borrow this nifty rain tower thing that almost did the trick. What didn’t work for me was the coverage area was a bit small, and there was so much mist produced I wasn’t sure much of the water was reaching the ground. Yes, I know that soaker hoses or drip irrigation will save mucho water — and at some point the plan is to upgrade to a water-friendly system. But until then my wellwater is free and I need to keep the plants alive.
Closeup of the Hillbilly Sprinkler
During a trip to Walmart I found this nifty whirling sprinkler that seemed to be well-built. After hooking it up it was almost perfect — the coverage was exactly right and the drops remain large so hopefully more water reaches the ground. The only problem? It was designed to sit on the ground and has these cute little wheels.
To make a long story longer, some good old country ingenuity struck one night and I had the bright idea to mount the whirling sprinkler onto the borrowed tower. So I went to the Lowe’s plumbing department and after deciphering Fip and Mip and all kinds of abbreviations I still have no idea about I came home with a 90-degree brass elbow and a garden hose adapter thing.
And son-of-a-gun if it didn’t work just as I wanted it to!
