Larger yards take a lot of time to water by hand, especially if you grow fruits and vegetables. Depending on the plants you grow, they may need watering twice a week during the summer. Installing an automatic sprinkler system may seem like a costly endeavor, but have several advantages.
A good way to prevent over watering is to install rain or soil moisture sensors to override your sprinkler system when necessary. A rain sensor simply senses rainfall. Once a designated amount of water has been detected, it shuts down any regularly scheduled irrigation.