Outdoor Water and Irrigation Questions Checklist

Note where every existing outdoor tap sits, which wall it is on, and how far a hose actually reaches from it in practice.

Hose reach is the constraint that often decides which parts of a garden get watered regularly and which are quietly neglected.

Turn each outdoor tap on and note how the flow compares with an indoor tap, and whether it drops when something else is running.

This is a rough observation rather than a measurement, but it is the kind of thing a plumber will ask you about first.

Ask whether your supply is metered, find where the meter and the internal stop valve are, and write both locations down.

How a supply may be extended or altered is a matter for a qualified plumber and your water supplier, not something to settle from observation.

Photograph any visible external pipework, isolation valve or drain-down point, including the ones whose purpose you do not understand.

Photographs of things you cannot identify are often the most useful items to hand over at a first visit.

Note which parts of the garden have no realistic route to a tap without crossing a path, a lawn or a boundary.

These are the areas that either need a different planting approach or a buried route decided early.

Ask a qualified plumber what adding or moving an outdoor supply point would involve here before assuming it is straightforward.

Backflow protection and how an outdoor supply may be connected are subject to local requirements; take the answer from a qualified professional.

Write down which areas hold established planting, which are newly planted, and which are containers, because their needs differ sharply.

New planting and containers usually need far more attention than established beds, and that changes over the life of a garden.

Note which beds sit under a house wall, a solid fence or a dense canopy, where rain rarely reaches the soil at all.

Rain shadow areas are often the driest ground on a plot and are regularly missed when watering is being planned.

Consider whether lawn, vegetables, containers and shrubs would all be treated the same, and record where you would draw the line.

Deciding what will not be watered is as useful to a designer as deciding what will.

Note which parts of the garden dry out first in a hot spell and which stay damp long after rain has stopped.

This pattern reveals more about the ground than any general description of soil type could.

Write down which plants you would accept losing in a dry spell and which you would not be willing to lose.

Being explicit turns an emotional question into a design brief, and it usually reduces the scale of what needs watering at all.

Ask a qualified professional or a nursery what the planting you have in mind typically needs once established, rather than assuming.

Water demand varies by species, aspect and ground, so it is worth asking about your specific list rather than generalising.

Note which roofs drain to where, including the house, any garage, store or greenhouse, and which downpipes are reachable from the garden.

Where the downpipes land decides where collection is even possible, and that often conflicts with where the garden needs water.

Consider where a water store could physically stand, on what surface, and whether it would be in view from the house.

A filled water store is heavy and needs a suitable base; how it is supported is a matter for a qualified professional to establish.

Ask where the overflow from any store would go, and what happens in prolonged heavy rain when it is already full.

Where overflow water may be discharged is subject to local requirements; confirm the position with the relevant authority before anything is planned.

Write down how you would actually get stored water to the plants, whether by can, by hose or by pump, and whether that is realistic for you.

Collection often stops being used because moving the water turns out to be harder than filling the store ever was.

Note whether stored water would be used on edible planting, and flag that as a question to raise rather than to answer yourself.

Whether collected water is suitable for particular uses is a health question for the relevant authority or a suitably qualified adviser.

Consider what the store looks like when empty and whether it needs screening, since it stands empty exactly when the garden is at its most appealing.

Appearance is the reason many stores end up moved or removed, and it is easy to plan for at the outset.

Write down the longest stretch the garden is regularly left unattended, and what currently happens to the containers during it.

This one honest note usually settles the question of whether automatic watering is worth discussing at all.

Consider who waters when you are away and whether they could reach every area without instructions you have never written down.

A neighbour or a friend can only follow an arrangement they understand, and most gardens have at least one hidden corner.

Decide and record whether you want any automatic watering at all, or whether hand watering suits the way you use the garden.

Some owners value the daily walk round with a can, and automating it removes the very thing they enjoy.

Note where a controller would live, whether it needs a power supply, and whether it would be reachable in poor weather.

Anything combining water with an electrical supply outdoors is work for suitably qualified trades to specify and install.

Ask what happens if an automatic arrangement runs during heavy rain, and whether that can be prevented.

Watering during a downpour is the image that turns neighbours and households against a system very quickly.

Consider whether you would realistically check a system regularly, and write down the honest answer rather than the intended one.

An unchecked system can water nothing for a long stretch before anyone notices what has failed.

Mark on a sketch every path, patio, drive and lawn a supply line would have to cross in order to reach each planted area.

Crossings are the hard part of the job, whereas running a line along an open bed rarely presents a problem.

Note which areas are due to be dug for other reasons, since a line laid then avoids opening the same ground twice.

Coordinating with other work is the simplest way to avoid opening the same ground twice, and also the thing most often missed.

Write down where you dig regularly, such as a vegetable bed or a border you replant often, and treat those as risky ground for buried lines.

Buried lines are often cut by the owner with a spade rather than by anybody working on site.

Ask how each line would be isolated, drained and found again once the ground is covered and planting has grown over it.

A line nobody can find or isolate is effectively abandoned the first time it needs attention.

Note where lines would pass near tree roots, walls or a change in level, and flag every one of those as a question.

Digging near tree roots, walls or any structure holding back ground needs assessment by an appropriately qualified professional first.

Consider whether you want the arrangement recorded on a drawing you keep, and ask who would produce it.

A simple record of what was laid is the difference between a repairable system and one that gets abandoned.

Ask what has to be done before freezing weather arrives, who does it, and what happens in a season when it gets forgotten.

Frost protection depends on the products used and on the local climate; take the procedure from the installer and the manufacturer.

Note where you would notice a leak quickly and where one could run unseen for a long stretch without anybody realising.

Leaks under paving, along a boundary or in a rarely visited corner are often only found once ground goes soft.

Write down how the outdoor supply is isolated in a hurry, and make sure more than one person in the household knows.

Isolation knowledge held by one person is no use at all when that person is the one who is away.

Consider whether a burst or an overflow could reach a building, a neighbour or anything stored outside, and note those exposures.

Water reaching a building or a neighbouring property is a matter to raise with a qualified professional and with your insurer.

Ask what routine attention the arrangement needs through the year and whether any of it requires a return visit.

Anything needing a visit is a commitment worth understanding before the arrangement is chosen.

Note who you would contact if something failed, and whether that is the installer, the supplier or nobody in particular.

Systems assembled from several sources often have no obvious owner when a fault appears.

Consider whether standing water is wanted at all, and write down what draws you to it, whether sound, wildlife, reflection or planting.

Naming the reason often reveals that something much simpler would satisfy it.

Note where children, visitors and pets would pass, and treat any question of depth or edge as one for a qualified professional.

Water safety, edge treatment and depth are matters to raise with a qualified professional and to confirm against local requirements.

Ask what a feature needs to keep it clear, how often, and what it sounds like from the nearest window late at night.

Moving water is charming outdoors and can be much less so through an open bedroom window.

Write down whether the feature would need a power supply, and where that supply could come from.

Any electrical supply serving a water feature outdoors is work for a qualified electrician to specify, install and confirm.

Note where the water would be topped up from and where it would be emptied to when the feature is cleaned out.

Emptying is the question owners never ask, and it often determines where a feature can sensibly sit.

Consider how the feature behaves in a hard frost and in a long dry spell, and ask what is expected of you in each case.

Both extremes arrive eventually, and both are much easier to plan for than to react to.