Stop guessing — get watering days, minutes per zone, cycle-and-soak splits and early-morning start times tuned to your grass, season, sprinkler & soil
Sets the weekly water target. Cool-season needs more than warm-season.
Evapotranspiration swings the need 3×+ across the year. Re-run when the season changes.
Sets the precipitation rate (how fast water lands) → run time.
Controls infiltration & cycle-and-soak. Clay needs splitting.
Many towns restrict watering during drought. Required depth gets compressed into the days you allow.
sq ft. Only used to estimate weekly gallons & cost.
$ per 1,000 gallons. Shows real $ savings vs over-watering.
Pick your grass, season, sprinkler & soil to build a schedule.
Generic "water twice a week" advice ignores your grass type, the season, your soil, and your sprinklers — so most homeowners either over-water (wasting money, risking fines during restrictions, and inviting disease) or under-water and slowly lose the lawn. This lawn watering schedule planner fixes that. It sets a weekly water target in inches from your grass type, scales it by season using evapotranspiration (ET) logic, splits it across the right number of watering days, then converts inches into minutes per zone using your sprinkler's precipitation rate. On clay or slopes it splits each run into cycle-and-soak passes so water soaks in instead of running off, and it gives you exact early-morning start times that finish before the heat.
Lawn: cool-season turf, Peak Summer, fixed spray heads (1.5 in/hr), loam soil, no restrictions.
So the headline reads: "Water 3 days/week (Mon/Wed/Fri), ~22 min per zone per day, split into 2 cycles of 11 min with a 30-min soak — start at 5:00 a.m." Switch to a rotor (0.5 in/hr) and the same depth needs ~65 min/day; switch to Fall and the target drops to ~0.63 in/week on just 1 day.
This is a planning estimate, not a guarantee. Actual need depends on real-time weather, humidity, wind, shade, slope, recent rainfall, and turf health — adjust up in heat waves and down (or skip) after rain. The schedule assumes zero rainfall; subtract measured rain from the weekly target. The single biggest accuracy upgrade is a catch-cup test for your yard — type-based precipitation rates (spray ~1.5, rotor ~0.5 in/hr) are industry averages and can be off ±50% due to pressure, spacing, wear, and overlap. "1 inch per week" is a starting heuristic, not a law; local ET data from a state extension or smart controller is more precise. Cycle-and-soak depth/infiltration caps (sandy 1.0, loam 0.5, clay 0.3 in/pass) are conservative rules of thumb to prevent runoff; compacted or sloped clay may need even shorter cycles. Do not water at night — extended leaf wetness invites fungal disease; early morning before ~9–10 a.m. is best. Always follow your local watering restrictions and ordinances; they override this tool's day recommendations, and over-watering during restrictions can mean fines. New sod/seed is the exception — it needs light, frequent watering until established; this "deep and infrequent" schedule is for established lawns only. This tool gives no chemical, fertilizer, or legal advice; consult your local cooperative extension office for region-specific guidance. Everything runs locally in your browser — nothing is saved or sent.
It sets a weekly water target in inches from grass type (cool ~1.25, warm ~0.75 in base), scales by season (Peak Summer ×1.3, Fall ×0.5), splits across the right number of watering days, then converts inches to minutes via your sprinkler's precipitation rate. Clay/slope runs are split into cycle-and-soak passes, and it gives early-morning start times.
Run time = (depth that day ÷ precipitation rate) × 60. Spray heads apply ~1.5 in/hr, rotors only ~0.5 in/hr — so a rotor runs ~3× longer for the same depth. Applying 0.54 in with a spray head ≈ 22 min; with a rotor ≈ 65 min.
Splitting one watering into shorter cycles with a soak gap so water absorbs instead of running off. You need it whenever a run would apply more than the soil takes in one pass — common on clay (~0.1–0.25 in/hr) and slopes. The tool caps each pass (sandy 1.0 / loam 0.5 / clay 0.3 in) and adds a soak gap (15 / 30 / 60 min).
Early morning, starting around 5 a.m. and finishing before ~9–10 a.m. It minimizes evaporation and lets blades dry. Avoid midday (evaporation) and night (disease from overnight wetness).
Deep and infrequent: roughly 1 day in spring/fall, 2 in early/late summer, 3 at peak summer for cool-season turf. Daily light watering trains shallow roots and wastes water. Restrictions compress the depth into your allowed days.
It's a planning estimate. Live weather, wind, shade, slope, rainfall, and turf health all matter. The biggest upgrade is a catch-cup test for your own yard; type rates can be off ±50%. Subtract rainfall and skip when rain met the target.
The schedule assumes zero rainfall, so subtract any measured rain from the weekly target and skip irrigation in weeks where rain already met the goal. Nothing is stored or sent — everything runs privately in your browser. You can print the schedule, copy a text version, or copy a shareable link that prefills your inputs.
Everything is calculated in your browser. We don't store or sell your data. Planning estimate, not a guarantee — follow local watering restrictions.