[.ca] Ortho's All about Sprinklers and Drip Systems (ISBN 0897214137)

From Amazon.com:
For busy gardeners, the prospect of continually dragging out hoses to water the garden can be a real disincentive to gardening. Often, the installation of an irrigation system appropriate to the needs of the garden can be a huge time and energy saver, and provide the appropriate and timely water that all plants need in differing amounts at different times. Starting with "The Basics of Home Irrigation," readers will learn if an irrigation system is appropriate for their needs and which one (or combination of systems) works best. Next, "Getting Started" discusses which kinds of systems can be installed and how they work. The final section of the book is "Using and Repairing an Irrigation System." Just about everything one needs to know is included here: troubleshooting and problem solving, customizing designs for an irrigation system, buying guides to components, and thorough, well-diagrammed how-to instructions made clear by helpful color photographs and detailed diagrams. --Mark A. Hetts

overall good coverage, could have been more detailed:
Book does a pretty good job at hitting all the points in planning and installing your irrigation system. Installing a system kind of feels like a major undertaking at first, but after reading the book I feel pretty comfortable about it (although I've only begun my installation, guess we'll see if things stay nice and comfy). I liked some of the side points in the book where it went into a little more detail about certain aspects of the job, however, in other areas I felt there should have been more detail. Book seemed like it might be a little dated as a few topics seemed to stick with more old-school standards (e.g., poly-pipe is now used in many new areas to hook-up from the meter to the house, but the book assumed that you would only find copper, galvenized steel, or PVC (stiff white) pipe for this application). I also think a book like this should provide as many "common mistakes" as possible, this books only has a few. Although my gut feeling says 3 stars, I have to upgrade to 4 because there isn't that many books our there like this one and relative to those it seems to be a winner.

Great Sprinkler Book:
The photos are great as is the installation process, the only thing it really doesn't talk about it shallow wells, which I was hoping for. Over all a great book though.

From Start to Finish:
An excellent guide for the do-it-yourselfer. Illustrations and text guide you through every step of the sprinkler installation process. Though some technical background and knowledge is required to follow some of the finer points. An abosulte must for anyone interested in "putting in" a well built sprinkler system.

A little to basic:
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.

A Pretty Good Basic Book:
Just like most fields, irrigation is evolving quickly as regards new materials, products and standards. Overall, I feel the Ortho book gives good solid information for a do - it - yourselfer. There was no "BAD" information per se, and it does demystify the 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.