Irrigation & Sprinkler Systems in Seattle

For established, well-chosen planting, often not. For anything in its first two or three years, for lawns and for containers, usually yes — and the reason is the shape of our rainfall rather than its total. Nearly all of the 38 inches falls October to March, and July and August routinely go weeks without meaningful rain. That dry window lands precisely when plants transpire hardest and when new roots have not reached far enough to find moisture. A garden that looks effortless in May is the one that had water in August.

Both, on separate zones, in most gardens. Sprinklers are right for lawns and turf where you need even coverage across an open area, and they need head-to-head spacing to avoid the dry patches that plague badly designed systems. Drip is right for everything planted, because it delivers water at the root, loses almost nothing to evaporation, and keeps foliage dry — which matters more in a damp climate than a dry one, since wet leaves overnight is how a lot of fungal problems start here. The mistake we most often correct is one system doing both jobs on one schedule.

Not routinely in a normal year, but conservation is worth designing for regardless. Seattle Public Utilities does not impose routine summer restrictions in a typical year, though voluntary curtailment is common in a dry August and regional conservation messaging runs through the Saving Water Partnership. Rather than quote a programme or a rebate that may change, we design for lower consumption directly: correct zoning so beds and lawn are separate, drip on planted areas, and weather-responsive control that skips a cycle after rain — which in this climate is not a gimmick.

Yes, and skipping it is a gamble people lose roughly one winter in three. Our winters are mild on average, which is exactly what makes them dangerous — systems get left charged because it rarely freezes hard, then a cold snap arrives, water expands in a backflow device or an above-ground component, and something cracks. The damage is not discovered until spring startup, by which point it may have been leaking underground for weeks. Blowing the lines out with compressed air in October is inexpensive and is the difference between a system lasting twenty years and needing repairs every other spring.