Pretty much what I plan to do
I can not afford to redo/instal plumbing beyond the 1/2” feed to out door spigot or a “pro” irrigation system
Mine will be all boarder install so taking up any hose if theres problems wont be to hard
Im just not sure how to handle over winter . ?

 

I like everything about your plan except the Blu-Lock part, for only 4 heads it would be trivial to either install the gold standard (PVC) or Poly with SS crimps. The Blu-Lock connections aren't as durable as PVC or Poly and at least in my area it is non-existent which would mean ordering every part and difficulty getting replacement parts.

There are plenty of reports on the Internet of Blu-Lock fittings blowing out in less than a year. There are also success stories where it's lasted many years, but you won't hear of any properly crimped Poly or cold-welded PVC fittings blowing out. It is also never a good sign when you don't see any professional installers that warranty their work using a product.

 

I'm in PA so I worry about the PVC not holding up in the winter long term. I also don't have any means to transport 10' or longer pieces of it back to my house. I'll look more into the poly, the Blu-Lock just seemed easy to ship and also fit together with no glue.

 

I've got a mix of garden hoses, 1" poly above ground, 1" poly underground, sprinklers on stakes connected to hoses, sprinklers buried connected to hoses (above ground) and sprinklers buried connected to poly below ground, oh, and some sprinklers buried connected to poly with flex pipe (funny pipe) mostly above ground. I even have one run that's done with pvc.

It can be done in all sorts of ways.

I'm in Southeastern Virginia so I am not too worried about deep freezes. I did lose a couple of the above ground heads on stakes this winter. I think we didn't get all the water blown out. One of them was zip tied to a stake about 3 feet above ground with hoses going to and from it. Who knows what happened there.

I started out connected to the regular spigot but can't in any way afford city water for my large yard. We now have a well for it but not the money or time to do a "real" installation so I made stuff up as I went.

It's all manual attached to the pump through a pvc manifold I made with ball valves. I have a 3/4" x 100' hose attached to poly that runs out to the front to another pvc "manifold" I made this spring to run 4 zones out there! Automation would be nice... Some day!

My husband works for a landscaping company and we have access to the equipment so we will hopefully be able to do a "real" system some day.

 

If you are going to do the work to bury lines and heads, have you considered just running straight PVC?

I run a 6-zone system, 2 3-zone manifolds, each being fed off my hose bibs as well. It’s now a complete underground system, it’s just not fed off my mainline water supply.

 

If you are going to do the work to bury lines and heads, have you considered just running straight PVC?

I run a 6-zone system, 2 3-zone manifolds, each being fed off my hose bibs as well. It’s now a complete underground system, it’s just not fed off my mainline water supply.

The OP mentioned concerns about freezing with PVC. I know Poly is a bit more forgiving when frost is a concern.

 

Regardless of PVC, poly or garden hose, you will need to blow out your system before a hard freeze.

In ground is the way to go. I would consider a permanent proper solution if you see yourself selling the house in the future.

 

Yes, still would need to blow everything out before the winter. Wish I could go with a permanent solution, but I will never have the funds available for what I'm assuming would be a $10k system.

 

For what it’s worth, I did an entire irrigation system for 36K SF lawn for $4k. That included renting equipment. If you go the DIY route, plan and plan some more, and then sanity check your plan with others. My system is fairly detailed in my lawn journal. Shoot me any questions if you’re planning on tackling it yourself.