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Under the Redwood We Mist

Redwood rectangle and beyond misting circuit diagram

The original plan was to run some wrapped galvanized pipe from the east-most valve on the manifold to feed 4 Champion-style sprinkler heads at each corner of the redwood rectangle. Between conflicting thoughts regarding the wisdom of that much water whacking the base of the tree + lethargy, this plan was never implemented.

For awhile, that valve remained unused. After not very long, Siber’s habit of collecting plants plus the departure to another state of a friend with many nice potted plants led to the patio being filled with plants. We have a misting system in that part of the patio. While originally designed to cool humans, it works acceptably for misting the tropical plants which live there now. It took little effort to reroute the misting feed hose from the manual valve on the hose bib over to the unused irrigation valve. Other than plugging up from minerals in our water and suffering hose punctures from squirrels who like chewing on plastic, the system works well and automatically.

Y valve splits the mist feed

It soon became clear that the plants living under the redwood also would prefer a mist over a soak. And i am guessing a Coast Redwood is more likely to prefer a mist resembling fog to a drench under its canopy that would not often occur in nature. A Y valve was added (valve picture) to the irrigation valve, and a new drip line run in a shallow trench over to the redwood rectangle. There it surfaces and feeds 3 drip irrigation-style misting heads on stakes (redwood picture). I neglected to take pictures of this process as it was a “git ’er done!” kinda day the day of eventual installation. This addition seems to be working at least as well as the pre-existing misting setup, and they nicely share the same cycle on the same irrigation valve.

Three misters at work

K-Rain sprinkler headReturn to 2002 Backyard Sprinkler Renovation Contents or EllLook at the Electrical Installation or orange roseSee how the gardens look in 2007