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Designing the Perfect Irrigation System for Your Lawn and Garden

Published on July 30, 2024

Helpful Information

Designing the Perfect Irrigation System for Your Lawn and Garden

Regularly watering your lawn is an important aspect of landscaping care and maintenance. However, your yard might be too large or you don’t have enough time to water it by hand every time. In that case, an irrigation system might be the solution for you. 

A water irrigation system will automatically water your lawn and help with water conservation. The team at American Irrigation Repair is here with some tips on designing a perfect irrigation system for your landscaping. 

What Is an Irrigation System?

Irrigation systems consist of a series of pipes, pumps, valves, backflow preventers, and sprinkler heads for watering your lawn. The main benefit of irrigation systems is you can program them to turn on at specific times and water your lawn on its own. Most irrigation systems divide the yard into distinct ‘zones’ that connect to the same valve. 

Irrigation systems are controlled by an irrigation control mechanism, which is basically a clock that tells your sprinkler when to turn on and off. Older irrigation systems use a conventional control that has preset irrigation scheduling while modern systems have smart, automated controllers that respond to local weather, temperature, and water conditions to optimally water your yard. 

Tips for Designing the Perfect Irrigation System

Below are some professional tips to help you design the perfect irrigation system for your yard. 

Draw a Plan

Before doing anything, make sure you draw up a complete plan for your irrigation system, including the location of pipes, the number of sprinkler heads, and the total pressure of the system. You can use graph paper to draw out a scaled blueprint that accounts for your yard’s shape and dimensions. The more detailed your plans and drawings, the smoother the actual installation process will be. 

Determine Your Flow Rate

Your yard’s flow rate will be the total amount of water it can emit and will be related to the total number of sprinkler heads you have. For most residential drip irrigation systems, the typical flow rate hovers between 4 and 11 gallons per minute, depending on the size of the yard and the total amount of vegetation. An expert irrigation system company can help you calculate the ideal flow rate for your system. 

Have Multiple Zones

Generally speaking, you should never relegate your sprinklers to a single zone. Gardens and landscaping need different amounts of water, so your system needs to be zoned so that they can get different amounts of water at different frequencies. For example, your garden and plants will need more water than your landscaping grass, trees, etc. 

American Irrigation Repair & Installation

With over 17 awards under our belt and over 25 years of experience, we are the go-to choice for all of your irrigation system needs in Austin, TX, and surrounding areas. If you would like to discuss installing a new irrigation system, contact American Irrigation Repair online or give us a call today at (512) 943-6080 to schedule an appointment!

Devynn Photo, Owner photo
About The Author

Justin Wilson

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Robert D.
Excellent on time service. Highly recommend.
Tracy B.
We appreciated y’all coming out sooner than expected and the employees were very professional and courteous and listened well to our questions and needs. They even showed me how to operate the unit better. Glad to have our sprinkler working again
Response from the owner:Tracy I love it when a plan comes together! Thank you for your business! Justin
Amber K.
I had a great experience with American Irrigation Repair. My inquiry was answered the same day and scheduled service within a couple of days, super quick! Diego was extremely knowledgeable and took the time to recommend the necessary services and repairs to get our sprinkler system working properly again. He even fixed a few sprinklers on the spot, which was much appreciated. I highly recommend American Irrigation Repair/Diego for anyone needing irrigation services!
MB
The guys did a great job! On time and on point! I always use American Irrigation for all my sprinkler needs.
Response from the owner:Thank you for the shout out and kind words!
Pauletta R.
Santos and his crew arrived on time to do a maintenance check and repaired. Unfortunately, there were a number of issues - the summer did a number on my system! Nevertheless,I’m so grateful to have this company to count on. I feel reassured that I’m getting excellent service.
Response from the owner:Pauletta This past summer was brutal. Thank you for the work and kind words. Justin
Ken P.
Brandon was very professional, friendly, and did a great job of fixing our system and leaving everything clean
Irene M.
The two gentlemen came for the spring tune up. They found a broken line. It was quickly fixed but I was surprised to be charged 137 dollars. I’d believed that the money I’d paid in advance would cover things such as this. I will have to think twice before paying anything in advance again.
Response from the owner:Thank you Irene!
Derron M.
Joaquin and team did a great job. They explained all of the details clearly as well as why it was needed.
Susan J.
Isaiah diagnosed the problem quickly and he and Honorato repaired it - I’m glad I’m part of the American Irrigation Club! Quick efficient service! 03/21/2025
Carroll P.
Service was preformed efficiently and timely. Very good team
Alice F.
Did work while I worked!
Response from the owner:Terrific, sounds like we were all working! My work here is done. :) Justin
Bonnie C.
Technicians arrived right on time, diagnosed the problem and fixed it quickly. We were very pleased.
Patty W.
American Irrigation has been servicing our irrigation system since we moved here 9 years ago, and we are always very happy with their work. I recently had some landscaping work done, and Agustin and Elias found a couple of broken and damaged sprinkler heads, so they fixed them, and now my system is working well again. I recommend them highly!!
Dino S.
Great service !
Margaret M.
Brandon was great, came within the timeframe and checked all my sprinklers and the current schedule. All good
Gail S.
They did an awesome job !
Jack H.
Filiberto and Abraham were excellent. Professional and courteous.They diagnosed and repaired the problems. System now runs great.
Response from the owner:Hi Jack We are blessed to have Filiberto and Abraham on the team. Gratefully Justin
Jeff H.
Everything was done exactly as they said. The pricing was fair. They used top rated parts. Work was done very efficiently with nobody hanging around looking for something to do. The workmen were very professional and courteous. They left our yard in the best possible condition. Showed me how to work our new controller and walked me through every station in the system to show how well each sprinkler was working.
Give them a try. It's worth the money.
Bob B.
The team was very helpful and kept me informed as to what they were doing to improve my irrigation system.
Response from the owner:Thank you Bob! I will share your feedback in this weeks team huddle. We are grateful for your business. Justin
Diane
All of your employees Wade, Joel, Jaime, and I think Todd that was here. Yesterday were very professional very courteous super helpful and I just wanna thank you for having wonderful people working at your company that are willing to help and make things right.
Court H.
Absolutely STELLAR company. I should have gone with them from the start. Communication is superb, customer service was stellar, service techs were kind and took their time explaining everything to me. They texted 30 minutes prior to arriving even called after the service to see how things went. 10 out of 10.

American Irrigation y’all have me as a client as long I’m in central tx. Thank you for showing me how wonderful an experience with a contractor can be.
Tim G.
The guys were very open and courteous. We knew exactly what was being done and were alerted to any problems immediately.. Very friendly and polite.
Response from the owner:Thank you for the feedback Tim! Justin
Brad A.
As usual, the guys were on time, professional, and kept me posted every step of the way!
Response from the owner:Thank you Brad! I'll give Juan kudos during our technician huddle tomorrow. Justin
Flor R.
Joaquin was awesome
Tom M.
Great job! Diego and Roger came up with a great solution to our problem. We have used American Irrigation for years and always very satisfied...
Bob L.
Kept me very well informed and always courteous and professional!
Kathy D.
Joel was outstanding explaining answers to my questions. He was very knowledgeable about setting my irrigation timer and protecting my outside water supply.
Stuart D.
Very knowledgeable, very easy to work with, their work was high quality. Thank you
Steve W
Needed a ton of repairs on top of regular maintenance. I am very pleased with the work done by the American Irrigation team. They know what they are doing.
C.E. H.
American has done very good work for our yard! Last summer, they fixed the wiring when a fence company put fenceposts through the wires and broke our system. Now American has done a 6-month tune-up, and we're ready for spring. American has excellent support staff who set up appointments, answer the phone, and, most importantly, explain things!
Jim C.
Timely, professional and friendly service by Brandon! Answered all my questions and my irrigation system is ready for the summer.
Roger H.
The team led by Omar were truly knowledgeable and very professional. Omar led a team that was focused on the job, worked to insure that everything was done correctly as agreed upon and on time each day to complete the work.
Response from the owner:Thank you Roger for the work!
Daryl M.
Your techs were friendly and courteous. They turned the water back on and did a thorough inspection of the sprinkler system finding only one break that was quickly repaired. I’m very pleased with the service we received.
Response from the owner:Hi Daryl, We're really glad to hear that our team could assist you promptly during the cold snap. It's important to us that you feel secure with your system, especially in challenging weather conditions. If you need anything else or have further questions, just let us know. We're always here to help! Best regards, The Wilsons
Byron H.
WAS HELPFUL IN ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS AND EASY TO TALK TO.
Response from the owner:Thank you for the work Byron!
Paula W.
We had a major leak and that day we called and they came out and repaired it! In 2 hrs we were back in business. Thank you so much!!!
Texas 1.
Great job. Great service.
Ted M.
I have been a member of American irrigation maintenance plan for several years now. Brandon has been an outstanding representative of his company. Professional, courteous, and timely. He is very responsive to requests as well as points out other issues I didn’t even know about

3/12/25 another year and another great visit by Brandon form American Irrigation in Georgetown! Thanks for your prompt and professional service!!!
Response from the owner:Ted, We are grateful for your business over the last several years and lucky to have Brandon on the team! I will share your feedback during this weeks team meeting. Justin
rich
Brandon always does a great job!
Response from the owner:We are lucky to have Brandon on the team! Thank you Rich!
Joe N.
American Irrigation Repair was incredibly responsive to my initial inquiry. They even pulled the appointment in by 2 days. Juan was very polite, professional, and managed the repair in less than 30 minutes.

I will use American Irrigation Repair again when the need arises.
Bonnie
Juan and his helper were friendly, knowledgeable and professionable.
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