What is this website about?
Irrigation-guide.com is an online guide for all those who are thinking of installing a home irrigation system on their own or are looking for individual answers to detailed home irrigation questions.
A few years ago I was faced with the same question: Continue to stand in the garden for hours and laboriously water the lawn and garden plants with the garden hose, or invest some time and money in the implementation of an automatic irrigation system. The decision was quickly made in favor of automatic irrigation. The biggest challenge was gathering the necessary knowledge: How do you even start, which system should you use and in which order is it best to carry out which steps? I found the necessary information laboriously and time-consuming on various websites, in online forums and in the product information of the manufacturers. As far as this was at all possible, because surprisingly little or no information was available on many details to be clarified, so that I was often only able to find out many details by the trial and error method.
My automatic home irrigation project was ultimately successful, the irrigation system has been in use for several years without any problems. Irrigation systems implemented together with friends and relatives also run to the fullest satisfaction.
The realization of an irrigation system is no book with 7 seals and also possible for the technically unsophisticated, but motivated layman – as I was back then. I don’t come from the industry, nor did I ever deal with the topic before my private irrigation project. Precisely because of this, I believe that I can put myself in the shoes of the average consumer. I pass on the knowledge I have gathered and gradually expanded in the course of the project here on the website.
The information is structured in project form, from the initial information and planning, through the specific purchase decision and the assembly of the system to the final implementation of the control including programming, so that you can go through the individual stages step by step.
I would be delighted if the information offered here helps you to save time, money and effort and I wish you every success with your home irrigation project!
Johann Kodnar, webmaster
Step by step to your own home irrigation system
Advantages of a Do-it-yourself home irrigation installation:
Myths and facts about home irrigation
Unfortunately, it is not that simple in practice. Even if the lawn is consistently moist after watering, that doesn’t mean you’ve done everything right. The magic word is “even watering”, meaning that all areas receive the same amount of water at the same time. Otherwise it can happen that some areas become brown due to a lack of water, or that some areas get too much water and you continually waste water or waterlogging occurs. The planning pages explain how to do it right.
As with every topic, it is also necessary here to deal with the topic at least a little before starting the project. If you are willing to do so, an automatic irrigation can also be easily implemented by a motivated do-it-yourselfer. The criterion is less manual dexterity than good planning. Everything you need can be found here on the website.
The running costs mainly consist of the water costs. For smaller gardens these are rather low, for larger gardens they increase proportionally to the irrigation area. If you have your own well, you can save it. Apart from that, there are still low electricity costs for the pump and battery / electricity costs for the irrigation computer and possibly solenoid valves. The construction costs depend on the size of the system and whether you build it yourself or have it built by professionals. A small, simple system that you build yourself and control manually starts at around 300 to 400 USD, for a larger 5000 square feet lawn with professional control with an irrigation computer and solenoid valves, a do-it-yourself implementation costs between 1,500 and 2,000 USD. If you have the system implemented by a professional instead, you have to calculate the costs at least 2.5 times. You can find detailed information and calculation examples in the blog post on the costs of automatic irrigation.
Exactly the opposite is the case! Compared to manual irrigation, optimally coordinated, even irrigation can save water. This is achieved by watering the lawn and plants only as much as is necessary. Modern sprinklers also ensure slow, gentle irrigation so that the water can be completely absorbed by the plants.
Latest blog posts
How to fertilize with a Venturi injector
A Venturi injector is a relatively simple and cost-effective way to use an irrigation system for fertilization. Venturi injectors have been used in agriculture for many decades, but are also well-suited for use in your [...]
Why do you need a solenoid valve box, and what are the alternatives?
If you use solenoid valves in your garden to switch between different irrigation zones during an irrigation cycle, the question inevitably arises as to how to safely and effectively house the valves. A suitable and [...]
How to adjust Gardena sprinklers (T-series, SD-series, MD-series, OS-140 sprinkler)
In this article, I'll show you how to adjust the sector to be watered and the throw distance for Gardena sprinklers from the T-series, SD-series, MD-series, and OS-140 rectangular sprinkler. These series currently include the [...]
Online cost calculator – How much would an irrigation system for your garden cost?
With the Irrigation Guide online irrigation calculator, you can calculate the expected costs for installing an irrigation system with minimal effort. All you need is the approximate size of the lawn and garden bed area [...]
How to connect solenoid valves to the irrigation computer
In the following article I explain how to connect solenoid valves to the irrigation computer and what you need to bear in mind. At the end of the article I will discuss the special case [...]
How do you water a bed?
In this article, I will explain the basic options you have for watering a vegetable bed with an automated irrigation solution and then show you how to install such a bed irrigation system in just [...]
How self-watering planters work
If you are looking for a solution to be able to leave your flower boxes alone for several days while on holiday without having to find someone to water them. Or if you sometimes forget [...]
How do you water a raised bed?
This article explains to what extent special requirements apply to watering a raised bed, what options you have with regard to watering and what else you need to consider. Raised beds have become very popular [...]
Winterizing a Cistern
When using a cistern, there are a few things to consider before the onset of winter. This article gives an overview of what to do in which case. How extensive the winterization work required is [...]
Introducing Netafim Netspex: Free sprinkler planning tool for agriculture
For many years, the only free online irrigation planning tool available was the myGarden planner from Gardena, but a few years ago the very advanced DVS irrigation planner and the Orbit irrigation planner were added. [...]
Options for tree watering: tree watering bag, root zone watering system, watering ring and more
Young trees need a lot of water in the first few years after they are planted in order to grow properly and develop their roots. And as a result of climate change and the [...]
What is the difference between a suction hose and a pressure hose?
The following article answers the question of how suction hoses and pressure hoses differ and for which application you need which of the two hoses. With suction pumps, which are the usual garden pumps, a [...]
Latest tests and comparisons
RainPoint Wi-Fi irrigation computer tested: How good are the cheapest irrigation computers on the market?
A few years ago, I tested no-name irrigation computers from China for the first time. The results were very disappointing due to the poor manufacturing quality: The products were often defective upon delivery or [...]
Description of the functionality of the RainPoint Tuya app for RainPoint irrigation computers
In this post, I describe the functionality of the RainPoint Tuya app for RainPoint water timers with web connectivity. RainPoint currently offers three different apps for its water timers, although not all RainPoint timers [...]
Description of the functionality of the RainPoint Home App
In this post, I describe the features of the RainPoint Home app for Wi-Fi RainPoint irrigation timers. This is the newest of the three RainPoint apps. In addition to RainPoint Home, there are also [...]
Description of the functionality of the HomGar app for RainPoint irrigation computers
In this post, I'll describe the functionality of the HomGar app for RainPoint irrigation computers with web connectivity. RainPoint currently offers three different apps for its irrigation computers, although not all computers work with [...]
New to LinkTap: Advanced Flow Monitoring
LinkTap maintains its pace of innovation and, following the launch of Smart Anti-Freeze Protection in March, is now expanding its software with the additional feature "Advanced Flow Monitoring." This feature complements the existing water flow [...]
Link Tap software enhanced with “Smart Anti-Freeze Protection”
LinkTap has expanded its software with the March 2025 update to include the additional "Smart Anti-Freeze Protection" feature. Previously, LinkTap devices had a certain level of frost protection, which automatically alerts users of impending frost [...]
Overview of the functionality of the LinkTap app
In the following article, I describe the functionality of the LinkTap software for controlling LinkTap irrigation computers via the web. Since the software is the same for all LinkTap models, what is written here [...]
In the test: LinkTap Q1 – Smart watering computer with 4 outlets
The range of irrigation computers with 4 outlets is very small. And I only know of three smart irrigation computers with 4 outlets and web connection. In addition to the LinkTap Q1 presented here, [...]