Head-to-head: why your lawn needs it
Head-to-head spacing is the #1 rule in professional irrigation design for consistent green coverage.
The non-uniform spray problem
Sprinklers apply more water near the nozzle and less at the outer edge. If heads are too far apart, dry bands appear between them.
What head-to-head means
Spacing should roughly match radius: a 4 m radius sprinkler should generally be around 4 m from adjacent heads. Overlap compensates edge weakness.
Why professionals never skip it
Saving one sprinkler usually causes long-term repair costs, patching, reseeding and wasted water. Correct overlap is cheaper over the system lifetime.
Practical grid placement
Start from corners, then edges, then center gaps. Use reduced arcs on borders to keep water inside the lawn and maintain distribution uniformity.
Most common mistake
Stretching spacing beyond nozzle radius to reduce hardware almost always creates dry spots within weeks.