So, you’re looking to build your own irrigation system? You’ve come to the right place. A DIY irrigation project is one of the most rewarding upgrades you can make to your home. Forget spending hours dragging hose end sprinklers around your garden (and forgetting to turn them off!), we’re going to show you how to build a professional-grade system that does the work for you.
By following this guide, you’ll create an efficient, automated watering system that not only saves you time and effort but also conserves water and promotes a healthier, more vibrant garden. We’ll cut through all the stuff that others might say is too complicated and give you a clear, straightforward path to success.
We’ve broken the entire process down into 5 simple stages, designed to take you from a blank slate to a fully functioning system:
- Get Early Guidance, and Plan: We’ll start with the most important step, preparation & planning. You’ll discover how to get a tailored guide, with recommendations and budget for your specific project. Without leaving your living room!
- Understanding Key Concepts: Next, we’ll help you understand the key parts of your system and why they’ve been chosen for your yard.
- Selection & Sourcing of Materials: Well show you how to compile a complete list of irrigation components, ready for install.
- Installation: This is the hands-on section where we walk you through the process of putting it all together.
- Set & Forget (and Maintain a lil’ bit): Finally, we’ll show you how to fire up your new system, make adjustments, and program your schedule for perfect watering.
Ready to get started? Let’s begin with the smartest first step you can take…
Step 1: Get Early Guidance, and Plan
Every successful project, from building a deck to baking a cake, starts with a good plan. Irrigation is no different. Getting the planning stage right is the single most important thing you can do to ensure your project is a success. It saves you time, prevents costly mistakes, and removes the guesswork.
A) The Smartest Starting Point: Get Your Instant Quote
Before you draw a single line or measure anything, the best first step is to get a clear guide of what you’ll need and what it will cost. In the past, this meant hours of research. Today, you can get it done in minutes.
Our Instant Quote tool is designed to be your project launchpad. By answering a few simple questions about your garden, like the size of your lawn and garden beds, it will generate a tailored guide complete with key recommended items and an customised, calculated budget. It’s the ultimate way to get expert guidance for your specific project, without leaving your living room. This gives you a solid foundation and a clear roadmap for the next steps.
B) Start Building Your Plan: Sketch Your Property
With the recommendations from your quote in hand, it’s time to visualize the project. Grab a pen and paper and sketch a simple “mud map” of your property. It doesn’t need to be a perfect architectural drawing; it just needs to be clear and “to scale”.
Be sure to include:
- The outline of your house.
- Any paths, driveways, or patios.
- The different watering areas (lawn, garden beds, veggie patch, pot plants).
- The location of your outdoor tap or water source.
This sketch is your canvas. It will help you (and any irrigation expert) chart where the main components from your quote will go and ensure you haven’t missed any spots. We have a Irrigation Planner with Grid Paper you can work with here.
C) The Final Check: Test Your Water Pressure and Flow Rate
The final piece of the planning puzzle is to confirm that your home’s water supply can do the job effectively. There are two simple tests to perform:
- Flow Rate: This is the volume of water your tap can supply over a set time. The easiest way to measure this is with the “bucket test”—timing how long it takes to fill a standard 9-litre bucket. From there you can calculate your flow in Litres Per Minute.
- Water Pressure: This is the force of the water moving through your pipes. Some people will tell you this is absolutely required, but practically, no one homeowner has the required tools to run this test. So instead we can just work with flow, with a little extra allowance.
These two numbers are critical. They determine how many sprinklers you can run at the same time and ensure your system will perform exactly as it was designed to.
Step 2: Understanding Key Concepts & Choosing Your Components
Now that you have a plan and some key recommended components, let’s explore some key concepts & considerations before getting specific with item selection & design. Understanding why a certain component is right for a specific job will give you the confidence that your system is perfectly suited to your garden.
Irrigation Zones (Watering Areas)
First, a crucial concept: zones. An irrigation zone is a specific area of your garden watered by a single irrigation valve as directed by the irrigation controller. You can’t just run one pipe to all your sprinklers, because a home water supply doesn’t typically have anywhere near enough pressure or flow to run everything at once. And by grouping areas into zones, an irrigation controller can then water defined areas, specific to their watering needs. The key is to group “like with like”. For example, the front lawn sprinklers are one zone, the sunny garden bed dripline is another, and the shady side of the house is a third. This allows you to give each area the perfect amount of water without over or under-watering others.
The Controller (The Brain)
The irrigation controller is the command centre of your system. While its basic job is to act as a timer, the choice of controller impacts how you’ll interact with your system day-to-day, and separate from cost, you’ll want to match your requirements with the features available. Because there are options from very basic to very complex!
Key Considerations When Choosing an Irrigation Controller
- Access to Power: The most common controllers plug into a standard 240V power outlet and send a low-voltage (24V AC) signal to the valves. If you don’t have an accessible outdoor power point, don’t worry. There are excellent battery-powered options that use long-life 9V batteries or AAs, and even solar-powered models. These are perfect for situations where running power would be difficult or costly.
- Smart (Wi-Fi) vs. Standard (Digital): A standard controller is a reliable, set-and-forget option. You program the schedule directly on the unit, and it runs like clockwork. A smart controller connects to your home Wi-Fi, allowing you to manage and monitor your system from an app on your phone. More importantly, it uses local weather data to automatically skip watering on rainy days or adjust watering times during a heatwave, which can save a significant amount of water.
- Access to Wi-Fi: If you’re interested in a smart controller, you’re going to need to ensure that you have a location on your property with access to a strong 2.4GHz WiFi connection. If you can’t place your controller with a WiFi connection, you can’t use a Wi-Fi controller (unless you use a 4G hotspot). We recommend using the AirPort Utility app for iPhone or the Wi-Fi Analyzer app for Android to test connectivity.
- Number of Zones (Stations): The controller must have at least as many “stations” as you have solenoid valves. It is always a wise investment to choose a controller with a few extra stations. This gives you the flexibility to easily add a new garden bed or a drip line to your pots in the future without needing to replace the entire unit.
- Number of Programs: Most modern controllers offer multiple independent programs (often labeled A, B, C). This is an incredibly useful feature. It allows you to create completely separate watering schedules for different types of planting. For example, you could set Program A for your lawns to water three times a week in the early morning, and Program B for your drip irrigation to water your garden beds every second day for a shorter period.
- Sensor Compatibility: To make your system even smarter, you can add sensors. A rain sensor is the most common and will automatically pause your watering schedule when it detects rain. A soil moisture sensor goes a step further and only allows watering when the soil actually dries out. And flow sensors are the ultimate superpower, they monitor real-time water delivery to manage efficiency & can even shutoff a system when there is a breakage!
Water Connection Points
Obviously access to water is a non-negotiable when considering an irrigation system, but how you connect to your water supply depends on a few factors:
- Local Laws & Regulations: Different localities are bound by regulations that limit who can install a water connection for an irrigation system, and typically that will be a Registered Plumber. And beyond that, the required components for installations surround eliminating water contamination of the mains water supply.
- Filtration Requirements: Filtration is mandatory on any non-mains water supply applications, eg: Dams, Water Tanks & Bore Water. You want to pick a filter that doesn’t restrict flow, but also blocks debris that would otherwise compromise the performance of irrigation equipment. In our experience, that would be around 120 Mesh/130 Micron.
- Pressure Reduction: Not all water supplies are created equal, and while government regulation has been progressively limiting pressure for households at the water meter, pressure surges and non-regulated supplies above 1000kPa still very much exist. In this case you’ll need to add a pressure regulator or reducer to avoid blow outs!
The Solenoid Valves (The Automated Taps)
Irrigation valves are the crucial link between the controller’s signal and the flow of water. While the options look similar, there are a few key things to look for.
Key Considerations When Choosing Irrigation Valves
- Controller Power Source: Your valves must match the power output of your controller. The vast majority of mains-powered controllers use 24V AC solenoids. However, if you’ve chosen a battery-powered controller, you will need to match it with 9V DC latching solenoids. They are not interchangeable, so always check before you buy.
- Flow Control: Look for valves that have a “flow control” handle or screw. This feature is incredibly useful. It allows you to manually fine-tune the amount of water and pressure going to a specific zone & optimise performance. For example, if you notice your pop-up sprinklers are misting (a sign of too much pressure), you can use the flow control to dial it back for optimal performance.
The Pipe & Fittings (The Distribution Network)
For domestic projects, poly pipe (HDPE for mainlines & LDPE for lateral lines) is the accepted standard for good reason. It’s tough, UV-stable, and far easier to work with than rigid PVC. That being said, some areas of Australia will only use PVC, particularly in pressure (main-line) applications for its rigidity & durability. Either works, it’s just about what works best for you.
Key Considerations When Choosing Pipework:
- Pressure Application: The pipework between your water connection & valves is called a “Mainline” and is under constant pressure, so it needs to be made from a high-pressure rated material like Metric HDPE or Class 12 PVC. The piping after the valves is called “Lateral” pipework & is only pressurised when a zone is active, so a lower-pressure material like LDPE Poly Pipe is perfectly suitable and more economical.
- Accessibility & Transport: This is a practical consideration. Poly pipe comes in long, continuous coils that can fit in the back of a car or ute and is flexible enough to bend around corners. PVC however, comes in rigid 6-metre lengths, which can be difficult to transport and requires a cut and a new fitting for every corner you need to navigate.
- Access to Tools: Your choice may come down to the tools required. Working with PVC requires a saw, measuring tape, and PVC primer and glue for a permanent solvent weld. Poly pipe, on the other hand, generally requires only a pipe cutter, with fittings that push or screw into place, making it very DIY-friendly.
- Pipe Sizing: The pipe size is determined by the amount of water (flow rate) it needs to carry. And using the same size for everything often is neither practical nor economical. Your mainline (from the tap to the valves) is typically a larger diameter (e.g., 25mm ID) to ensure enough water is available for the whole system and needs to be construction of appropriately pressure rated materials, eg: Class 12 PVC or Metric HDPE. Your lateral lines (from the valves to the sprinklers) can often be smaller (e.g., 19mm) as they only need to supply one zone at a time, and can have a lower pressure rating, eg: LDPE Poly pipe.
The Irrigation Method (Drip, Spray or Micro?)
This is where you have the most options can seem a bit much, as the best delivery method depends entirely on what you are watering. But thinking about what you’re watering, and your space, the options tend to narrow themselves down for you:
Irrigation Options for Lawns
- Pop-up Sprays: These are best for small to medium-sized lawns and uniquely shaped areas. They spray a fixed fan of water, or rotating streams depending on the nozzles selected. The key is to select the right nozzle for the job (e.g., 90° for corners, 180° for edges) to ensure water goes on the grass and not the pavement.
- Gear-Driven Sprinklers (Rotors): These are the choice for large, open lawn areas. They shoot a single, powerful stream of water as they rotate. Because they deliver water more slowly than sprays, they are excellent for slopes and clay soils, as the slower application rate allows the water to soak in rather than run off.
- Under-Turf Driplines: For the ultimate in water efficiency on lawns, sub-surface dripline is the premium choice. This specialised dripline is installed a few inches below the soil surface, delivering water directly to the grassroots. It eliminates any water loss from wind or evaporation and is a great solution for windy areas or lawns with very strict water restrictions.
Irrigation Options for Garden Beds
- Dripline: This is the go-to solution for watering rows of plants, hedges, or new garden beds. It’s a poly tube with pressure-compensating emitters built-in at regular spacings (e.g., every 30cm). The key consideration here is matching the emitter spacing to your soil type, sandy soils need closer spacing than clay soils.
- Shrub Sprays: These are small, fixed sprays on top of rigid risers that sit above the mulch. They are great for watering dense groundcovers or established beds where you need wider coverage than a driplines can practically be laid. They can be fitted with adjustable nozzles to control the radius and flow.
- Micro Sprays: Think of these as miniature sprinklers, often mounted on a small stake. They deliver a fine, gentle spray over a small area, making them perfect for delicate flower beds, seedlings, or oddly shaped garden patches where a dripline isn’t practical.
- Individual Drip Emitters: If you have plants that are spaced far apart, or you’re watering a collection of pots, individual emitters are perfect. You punch these directly into blank tubing, allowing you to place a water source precisely at the base of each plant, ensuring zero waste.
Irrigation Options for Pots & Containers
- Individual Adjustable Emitters: For a mixed collection of pots with different sizes and needs, adjustable emitters on stakes give you ultimate flexibility. They can be discreetly connected up with micro tube & You can dial each emitter to deliver anywhere from 0 to 40 litres per hour, allowing you to perfectly match the water output to each pot’s size and the plant’s thirst.
- Loops of Drip Tube: If you have larger pots, especially those with small trees or established shrubs, a drip tube loop is an elegant solution. It’s essentially a length of drip tube, looped on itself with embedded emitters that sits on top of the soil around the base of the plant, ensuring even watering around the entire root zone.
Irrigation Options for Vegetable Gardens
- Micro Sprays on Micro Risers: For planting that accept foliar water application (ie: water on the leaves – plants like tomatoes for instance, don’t like that), A simple and cost-effective solution is perimeter micro sprays on micro risers for even top-down watering throughout the whole veggie bed.
- Individual Adjustable Emitters: A unique need for Veggie patches is that planting changes season to season, and the irrigation needs to adapt to that. With a supply line of poly pipe placed along one side of a bed, micro drippers can be connected micro tubes for placement, adjustment & removal at any time.
Step 3: Selection & Sourcing of Materials
With a solid understanding of the key components and how they work together, you’re now ready to create your complete shopping list. This is where your planning sketch and your Instant Quote recommendations really come into their own.
A) Turn Your Plan Into a Parts List
Using your property sketch and the recommended products from your quote, work through each area and list exactly what you need:
For Each Watering Zone, You’ll Need:
- The appropriate number of sprinklers, dripline, or emitters (based on coverage area)
- Lateral pipe to connect them (with some extra for on-site alterations)
- Fittings (elbows, tees, joiners, end caps, clamps)
- Risers or stakes (if using sprays or micro-irrigation)
- Pins, Filters and pressure regulators (if using drip)
For Your Mainline & Valve Manifold:
- The solenoid valve for each watering zone
- A valve manifold or valve box to house them
- Mainline pipe & fittings from your tap to the valves
- Water Connection fittings
- Any necessary fittings and adapters
For Your Controller:
- The controller unit itself
- Irrigation Cable to connect the controller to each valve manifold
- Any associated sensors (rain sensors, soil sensors or flow sensors)
Don’t Forget the Extras:
- Teflon tape for threaded connections
- Pipe clips, solvent cement & priming fluid or stakes to secure pipe
- Marking flags for easy installation
- Pipe cutters & other installation tools
B) Pick a reputable, knowledgable, reliable supplier: Like SunshowerOnline
Here’s where your project gets easier. Rather than driving to multiple hardware stores or dealing with confusing product codes, everything you need is available at SunshowerOnline. Our website is organised by category and purpose, making it straightforward to find exactly what you’re after.
Even better, if you generated an Instant Quote in Step 1, many of the key components have already been recommended based on your specific garden. You can use that as your foundation and then fine-tune the quantities and specific products as needed.
Pro Tip: Order a little extra pipe and a handful of spare fittings. Having a few extra elbows and tees on hand means you won’t need to stop mid-project for another parts run. And if you’re doing this for the first time, the occasional measurement error or design change is completely normal.
C) GET EXPERT HELP HERE: Work with Sunshower’s Design Department
This article has covered a lot of ground, so while you’ll be saving a lot of $$$ by going fully DIY, if we can recommend one thing to pay extra for, it’s getting our expert design team to build a design for you. By doing so, you’ll get a fully specified Irrigation Design with the complete list components, perfectly designed for you project & your needs. It’s an outstanding service, and you will be entriely set up for success. Check out the Design Department here.
Step 4: Installation
This is where theory meets practice. And once you’ve done the planning and preparation work, the physical installation is the fun part. We’ll break it down into manageable chunks.
A) Do a Site Walk
Before a single shovel goes into the ground, walk the layout with your irrigation design in hand. Consider using line marking spray to visualise the pipe work placement, mark sprinkler locations with flags. Does it look right? This gives you a chance to see the whole picture, make adjustments, and identify any issues before you make a mess.
And if something doesn’t make sense, make changes now. It’s far easier than digging things up later.
B) Pre-Install any Required Conduits
Particularly for new landscape installs, you’ll want to take the opportunity to install access conduits under any hardscapes before they’re constructed, think driveways, paths, retaining walls, patios. Installing PVC or HDPE conduits that you can later connect to, or feed through pipework will save what would otherwise be entirely inaccessible sections of garden.c) Install Water Connections
C) Install Water Connections
Please to refer to you local laws and regulations for water connection installation, as it usually requires a registered plumber. We do offer water connection kits that are typically used in this application.
D) Dig Trenches, Lay Pipework & Run Cable
Referring to your design, it’s time to get digging! Being mindful that while you will make a bit of a mess, it is also possible to make minimal mess with the right techniques.
Trenching Best Practise:
- Refer to your plan & avoid digging trenches you won’t use,
- Using the blade of your Shovel, cut & lift out turf first, in rectangular wedges. Don’t pile them away, lay them alongside you trench for easy replacement once you’re done laying pipe,
- Recommended Trenching Depth:
- Mainline pipes: 150-200mm deep
- Lateral pipes: 100-150mm deep
Laying Pipework & Cable:
Start installing the first components of your system! And get used to sweating on the detail, each join & connection point is important, so don’t rush! Here are our tips:
- Start from the connection point & work ‘downstream’: Run mainlines from the water connection to the valves, run laterals from the solenoid valves to the garden beds.
- Where possible, run irrigation cable in the same trench & underneath the mainline pipe: This provides added protection for the cable, and is inline with installation best practise, which makes troubleshooting much easier in the future.
- Lay as much pipework in the same trench as practical: To minimise trenching, and generally, keeping things together makes servicing & troubleshooting more predictable.
- Tape over & label any open ends: You will inevitably leave open ends of pipework that you will return to later, label them so you know which zone they relate to. Also, they will fill up with dirt & that will potentially cause issues later if you don’t cover them up.
- Always double-check ALL connections before backfilling, and only fully backfill after testing: That means all glued connections, all clamps & mechanical fitting connections. You don’t want a leak, nor do you want to be digging twice!
Pro Tip: For you irrigation cable, leave some extra wire at both ends, like an extra metre. It can easily be coiled in the valve box & makes for easy installation, servicing & repair.
E) Install Valve Manifolds
After installing the pipework, it’s time to get technical. You’ll connect the mainline to the lateral pipework by installing the irrigation valves. The components will be dictated by what’s been chosen for your design, but most importantly you’ll need understand that upstream of your valves, pipework will be under constant pressure, any leak will be a big problem. Downstream of your valves, pipework is typically not under constant pressure, so while you don’t want leaks, the pressure demands are lower.
Irrigation Manifold Installation Steps:
- Build your manifold: Starting from the water connection side. And if using a PVC manifold, don’t butt the tees too close, ensure you leave space for valves to comfortably fit side-by-side.
- Connect Irrigation Valves to Manifold: Ensure teflon tape is applied, if applicable
- Connect Each Valve to the Lateral Pipework: Be sure to install zone-specific pressure reduction inline, for drip irrigation zones.
- Install Valve Box & Backfill In Place: Ensure the lid is flush with the ground level & there is sufficient clearance to fit valves.
- Wire up Valves to Irrigation Cable: Electrical tape won’t do folks! See the details below.
Pro Tip: Label each valve with a permanent marker or tag (Zone 1 – Front Lawn, Zone 2 – Garden Bed, etc.). Your future self will thank you.
Irrigation Wiring Steps
- White is Your Common Wire, pick a colour for each other zone: Not for any technical reason, but it’s inline with general professional installation practises (some choose black, and that’s ok too!).
- One wire from each valve joins to the common, each remaining valve wire joins to a colour: The colours will then correspond to their respective zones at the controller end.
- Wire Joins must be fully sealed & water-tight: Water & wiring are not compatible. Tape will not do, use gel filled wire connectors or resin filled heat-shrinks to prevent water ingress & any subsequent issues.
F) Install Sprinkler Bodies, Drip lines, Micro Components
Now the fun stuff starts to take shape, when you’re connecting the parts that do the watering! A fully functional system is getting close. Here are the key installation tips:
- Always start from where the water is coming from & work downstream.
- Resist fully fitting off you spray & drip components, all lines need to be flushed before nozzles are fitted & flush valves closed off.
- Hold off fully backfilling until after testing.
For Pop-Up Sprinklers:
- Loosely pre-fit connection fittings to your pop-up body & check the height, relative to ground-level is ok: Dig out or fill in the base of the hole around your sprinkler for perfect vertical positioning.
- Cut in your connection fittings: Then tightly fit your pop-up body into position, ideally with articulated risers. Applying teflon on any threads.
- Confirm the sprinkler body is set at the correct height
- Backfill and compact soil around the sprinkler
For Drip Lines:
- Run Your Header Pipes (with flush valves): If not done already as part of your lateral pipework. Run a supply pipe along one end of each bed, this will be the pipe your drip tube will connect too. Ensuring you include an accessible flush valve on the far end (this will be particularly useful on the first test).
- Cut/Punch into your header pipe: And attach the connection fittings for you drip lines.
- Lay Your Drip Lines: Remembering that drip line should be laid in a grid, connect into the header pipe, then roll the tube out along it’s spine (like you’re rolling a tyre along the road) as designed in your plan. You’ll need to pin it down every metre with drip tube pins, eventually looping back into the header pipe, or itself, for even flow distribution.
For Micro Sprays & Drippers:
- Run Your Supply Lines: If not done already as part of your lateral pipework, according to your plan.
- Punch in Micro Tube & Risers: Using a Punch Tool, create a hole then attach micro fittings according to the plan, ready for testing.
G) Install the Controller
The location of the controller should be determined at the planning stage, but at a convenient height on the wall, it’s time to mount your controller. Ensure clearance for opening the lid, and avoid locations with excessive sunlight exposure (the Australian sun tends to cook things!) & direct rain.
- Mount your controller to your wall: The controller will include wall mounts
- Wire up irrigation cable to terminals: Controllers do include wiring diagrams in their instructions for reference, but essentially strip the multi-core irrigation cables, match the colour of the common wire (from you valve manifold setup), then connect one colour to each respective zone terminal using a screwdriver.
- Connect any sensors: To the dedicated terminals on the controller
H) Program Your Controller
Getting Close! Now it’s time to setup the automatic schedule for your new system. While all controllers are slightly different, the core concepts remain basically universal, here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Connect Your Controller to WiFi (if applicable): And you’re best served programming via the respective app.
- Set the Current Date & Time
- Set a “Start Time” for Program A: This is the time that you want the controller start watering, any zones you apply a “Run Time” to will run sequentially from the “Start Time”. Many controllers will allow you to set multiple start times, if required.
- Set a “Run Time” for each Zone you want to run on Program A: This is the watering duration for each zone, zones with a “Run Time” set for a program will run one-after-the-other. Residental controllers will not run 2 zones at the same time.
- Set Run Days (or Watering Cycles) for Program A: This will define which days you want this program to be activated on. You set specific days of the week, or daily intervals.
- Configure Additional Programs (if required): Select additional programs on the interface & repeat Steps 3-5.
Pro Tip: Programs are not Zones. Programs are essentially schedules, and are typically lettered (A, B, C,…). Zones however correspond to the valves you have installed in the ground and therefore the watering areas you defined in your plan, they are numbered (1, 2, 3, 4,…).
I) Flush, Fit-Off & Test Each Zone
Before you backfill all those trenches and celebrate, you need to flush, fit-off & test. It’s a critical final step that catches issues while they’re still easy to fix.
Flushing Procedure:
- Ensure Spray Heads, Dripper Heads are removed & flush points for drip are open: Ready for any inevitably trapped debris to freely flow out.
- Open the isolation valve at each water connection
- Activate each zone manually for 30-60 seconds from the valve: Most valves have a bleed screw or manual lever for testing without the controller.
- Now you can fit all nozzles, drippers and close flush points! Everything is installed! 🎉
But there is still a couple of steps to go…
Testing Procedure:
- Using the controller interface, or the app, run each zone manually
- Do a walk around, you’ll need to look for:
- Leaks at fittings or connections
- Sprinklers that aren’t popping up
- Nozzles spraying the wrong direction or under/overspraying
- Areas that aren’t getting coverage
- If you see any of the above adjustments will need to be made (some more minor than others): A well designed plan & system will ensure the minimum of fuss here.
Once you’re happy, take a good look at yourself!! You have a fully functional automatic irrigation system! CONGRATS! 💦💧💦💧
H) Backfill & Clean Up
With everything tested and working, time to return the space to a state like you were never there:
- Backfill all trenches, tamping down the soil as you go to prevent settling
- Replace any turf you removed, the wedges you left trench-side should drop right back in. They’ll sit high, so tamp them down.
- Tidy up valve boxes and ensure lids sit flush with the ground
- Ensure the location of valves and any key components on your property sketch match their final placement & keep the design safe for future reference!
I) Monitor & Adjust Your Watering Schedule Accordingly
Setting initial run times & schedules can be a bit of guesswork, so keep an eye on your system over the following weeks. Look out for the either extremes of pooling water or the beginning wilting dry plants, you garden will tell you if something needs to be adjusted, you just need to look!
Many controllers, particularly smart controllers have excellent weather and seasonal adjustment settings, so the longer your system operates the sooner it will become truly set & forget.