How long should the zones run?
Different types of sprinkler heads put out different amounts of water and should run for different amounts of time. Small pop-up heads generally need to run 10-20 minutes per zone and rotor heads need 20-40 minutes per zone. We recommend cycle and soak watering. The soils in Colorado Springs are mostly of clay content. Clay cannot absorb water as fast as sprinklers can apply it. The 12 minute run times for pop-ups can be broken into three separate times of 4 minutes each and started three different times at about 1 hour intervals. This allows the ground time to soak up the water and not let it run off into the street.
