Irrigation system

An irrigation system waters plants through infrastructure rather than by hand. It is made up of a main line, valves, zoned lateral lines, sprinkler heads or drip emitters, and a controller that runs it all. The controller starts watering at set times and for set durations, and moisture or rain sensors can stop it watering when it does not need to.

Types and planning

Lawns usually get pop-up sprays or rotors, which spread water over a wide area like rain. For trees, shrubs and flower beds, drip irrigation is more efficient because it delivers water straight to the root zone and loses less to evaporation. A good design splits the site into zones of plants with similar water needs, so a lawn and a drought-tolerant bed never share a valve. Pressure, flow and pipe sizes are calculated from the water source. Sleeves are laid under paving in advance so nothing has to be broken out later. Systems fed by harvested rainwater or treated greywater reduce demand on mains water.

Its place in a landscape project

Irrigation is designed together with the planting plan and drawn on its own sheet. It never appears in a visualization, yet the even green lawn and healthy beds in a landscape render are, in reality, the result of a well-built irrigation system.