Basic Watering 101: How long should I run a zone for?

When I go to service a home and check the controller the majority of the homes will have the same amount of time for each zone.

Here are a few questions to think about if you have the same run times for all of your zones.

Are the same type of heads on each zone? Rotors or Sprays

Are all the zones in full sun, shade, partial shade?

Are all the zones on the same slope?

Are all the zones in the same soil conditions?

So if you have all the same type of heads, in full sun, on the same degree of slope and with the same soil conditions. Then YES you can water all of your zones for the same amount of time.

If you answered NO, don't worry you are among the 99.99% majority of homeowners with lawn irrigation systems.

You want to have different run times for different types of heads:

For Example
Spray heads may run between 3-20 minutes depending on soil, sun vs shade and degree of slope.

Rotors may run 12-60 minutes depending on soil, sun vs. shade and degree of slope.

Drip irrigation may run 15-90 minutes depending on application

Full Sun zones will run longer then shaded zones.

Sloped areas will run for less duration then level areas. (But they will have a higher frequency then level areas to compensate for the decrease in duration)

Different types of soil will have different infiltration rates. Clay soil will not absorb water like sand will.