After building a stone retaining wall and stairs, and backfilling an area of about 25′ by 30′ with about 30 cubic meters of rock and dirt, it was time to get ready for the lawn.  I had enquired about having someone plan and install a system, but in the end decided to plan and install it ourselves, and we were able to do it after returning from our holiday in about 3 days for about 20% of the cost .  We have two zones for the grass and a future zone for the lower area, all run off a timer and manifold with valves. So far, it works perfectly.  We trenched down about 10″ (25cms) and made about 75 pipe connections.  As the plan evolved over time, there were several trips to Home Depot for additional or different pipe and fittings.  There are three sprinklers on each side of the lawn, eight in total.  The 3rd photo shows how we connected the sprinklers to the main 3/4″ pipe.  Mizuho did a great job with the hoe, both digging out the trench and filling it back in.

Once the irrigation was in place, we ordered 750sq ft of sod from a nearby sod farm and picked half up on Thursday and the other half on Friday.  Mizuho and I moved it from the truck to the ATV and over to the back yard and then set it in place.  Worked like a charm.  And at 35 cents a square foot, way better than growing a lawn from seed.

The Green Carpet – which was completed just a few hours before Pat and Pat arrived.  We are thrilled they are moving to Kelowna so we wanted to lay out the red (or green) carpet for them.  This is likely the best the lawn will ever look.

Sprinkler system in action.  We  got it all done just in time – forecast for the next five days is sunny and hot with highs from 32 to 36.