Save Your Energy and Time by Using Sprinkler Layout Design With Spray Patterns

So have you finally have given up on hand watering and want an in-ground system? Designing a sprinkler system may be easier than you think.

In this article, you will learn how to develop a simple garden plan and then estimate how much conduit and sprinkler heads you will be required for your project.

Plotting your garden area

First, find some graph paper. If you don't have any you can Google "printable graph paper" and print the example images. Depending on the size of your yard, establish the scale by referring to each square as 2 or more feet.

Next, you will want to measure and draw your house and patio areas. Be sure to include sidewalks and other obstructions like trees and garden borders as well.

Locating your water source

Once you have defined these areas and your garden boundary you will need to locate your water source. For this DIY project, we will be using your outside spigot as the water source. Locate these on your plan with an "X".

Choosing a sprinkler head

Now we will need to decide on what kind of sprinkler head to use. In this tutorial, we have selected Rotors for our project. These are a rotating gear driven heads and are a great choice for large lawn areas.

Creating spray templates

Next, we will create a spray pattern template. Draw 4 circles with a diameter (width of the circle) measuring 40 feet on a separate piece of graph paper. Then cut each circle out with a pair of scissors.

(Note: see our pre-drawn sprinkler templates to skip this step)

Then we need to cut one of the sprays in half and another in quarters for smaller areas. Since our Rotors allow adjustable spray angles we can keep certain areas dry by simply spraying outward.

Tracing your spray patterns

Begin with zones like the edge of house, yards or edge of the road and utilize the half circles. With the shower layouts just follow them utilizing a pencil.

Each shower example should cover no less than 30% to guarantee no territories in your yard or garden will wind up plainly dry. When every single half circle are drawn, fill in centre zones with full splashes and quarter spays where required.

Defining your watering zones

Finally, we need to draw in the conduit and create watering zones. Starting at your spigot, draw a gradual curve from one head to the next, making sure your conduit never overlaps. Be sure to avoid tight turns in your design.

For this tutorial, we will use 3 heads for each zone. By connecting a series of 3 heads together you are establishing one watering zone. Repeat this process to the remaining heads on your plan.

Checking your Psi and Gpm

You will also want to check your Psi and GPM levels. A call to your water company will give you a good idea of how good your water coverage will be.

We hope this tutorial has given you a better understanding of DIY Sprinkler Irrigation Design and Planning. You may have discovered that planning for a sprinkler system is much easier than you had originally thought.