A beginner’s guide to sprinkler system design.

You don’t need to be an engineer or a landscape architect to devise a good, effective sprinkler system design for your lawn and garden. All you need is the right equipment, and a little planning and common sense.

Good sprinkler system designs should do two things:

1. Keep your plants and lawn lush, green and healthy. All your plants should receive the right amount of watering at the right time.

2. Use water resources wisely. Automatic sprinkler systems are notorious for wasting water. A poorly designed sprinkler system can be a terrible water guzzler, but a well designed and properly maintained system will actually save water. This will not only save you money, but you’ll help to conserve precious environmental resources.

Three top tips for designing an effective, efficient sprinkler system:

1. Incorporate a moisture sensor into the system.

This will prevent the sprinklers turning on when watering is not needed. There’s nothing more wasteful than having your sprinklers turn on during a rainstorm!

2. Choose the right type of sprinkler for each area of the garden.

Impact sprinklers have a long reach, so they’re best for large areas of lawn. Oscillating sprinklers cover medium size areas, while rotor sprinklers and spray heads are great for targeting specific small areas.

You may also incorporate drip irrigation devices into your design. Drip irrigation delivers water slowly and steadily directly to the roots of plants, so it’s very water efficient, and it’s a great way to take care of plants with specific watering needs.

3. Good garden design.

If you’re planting new flowers, shrubs or lawn, choose plant species which thrive in your local climate and soil, and which don’t require a lot of watering.

Group plants with similar watering needs together, to get the most from your sprinkler system.

For more information on sprinkler systems, please read this article on sprinkler controllers.