We are able to give you guide times for your irrigation system but it is extremely important that you familiarise yourself with your system and adjust the running times and frequency to suit. When checking the moisture content of the soil, especially with drip irrigation, it is important that you look under the surface and away from the drip pipe. At a distance of 50cm the moisture can be 15-20cm down, perfect for roots!

The other factor that must be taken into account is your soil type and the condition of the soil. The more sandy your soil, the less moisture it can hold, so the watering will have to be more frequent and less in quantity. When using drip lines the water cannot spread so far so the lines will need to be closer together. It is also important to keep the soil in good condition and if creating new beds, work undertaken on improving the soil will always pay huge dividends.  The addition of organic matter will add considerably to the soil's ability to retain moisture. Good structure will also lead to water easily penetrating the soil; it is important to stop the surface capping over or the water will just run off or puddle. If you have poor structure you will find that you will have to water more frequently.

When doing any planting it is still important that the plants are well watered in, with a hose or watering can. This will encourage the roots to look for water as well as making sure the new plant is in good contact with the soil this will then help when the irrigation system takes.  The different areas of you garden will have different requirements and the multiple zone sequence controllers have three different programs to cope with the demands.

1) Hanging baskets and containers. Require frequent watering, as water holding capacity is small and water demand is high. It is important that the water does not drip through, as this is wasted water which washes out the nutrients and leads to slippery paths and patios. At the start of season once a day for 5 minutes; as the season progresses twice a day for 5 minutes each time and in the hottest period three times a day.

If the water is running out of the bottom decrease the time, but if you think the containers may be short of water increase the frequency. If using adjustable output drippers, turn down the output to match the containers water requirements.

2) Lawns and grass. In the domestic situation, do not get confused with golf courses, especially golf greens. They use very fine grasses and special rooting media that require frequent watering. On standard lawns, we are using a variety of grass species that gives the lawn it’s distinct and unique British feel. Some are fine with small leaves that give the lawn its density and others are coarser that gives the lawn it’s more hard wearing attributes. None of these are going to be rooting deeper than 30cm so there is no point in applying so much water that we are irrigating deeper. The water should be applied to irrigate approximately the top 1” of soil, this will then slowly penetrate down and when the top 1” is dry, further water should be applied. This is why automatics are important so that the cycle is repeated and a gap is not created. Hopefully when the moisture reaches 12” it has all been used by the grass and you are not adding to the ground water. For pop ups we start at once a week for half an hour then twice a week; the most we would recommend is three times a week. In the driest periods the time will have to be increased. 

3) Beds and borders. Flowers and shrubs roots need to be encouraged down and the roots are often found to a depth of 1m.  It is important that these areas are given a thorough water as a sprinkling of water will encourage roots to the surface and then  the plants will dry out quicker.  If it does rain or you run the irrigation system too long, much of this water will be ineffective as the roots will be in the wrong place.

For efficient running times you must know the output of the product you are using. Leaky Pipe has a specification of 2 litres per hour per metre whilst the other drip pipes use 6 litres per hour per metre. For Leaky Pipe during the season on for 2-3 hours every 2-3 days. For other pipes 1hr every 2-3 days.

4) Vegetables. Very hard to accurately predict, as it is dependant on what you are growing and what stage the crop is at.  For drip, run for less time than beds and borders and at a greater frequency, as you do not need to water so deeply. For mini sprinklers water every 2nd day for 20mins.

5) Trees and hedges. Need to water deeply to encourage roots down.  So 4-6 hrs once a week and only start watering mature trees and hedges when it starts to get very dry. When  young, irrigate more frequently, twice a week for an hour or so.