For the purposes of this review, Irrigreen sent me a kit that can connect to a garden hose, so the yard needn’t be dug up just to give the system a try. I’ve tested Irrigreen in two prior incarnations, so I was familiar with how it works, but first-timers are likely to be a little flummoxed by Irrigreen’s unique approach—with each sprinkler connected to the next via a bespoke cable—and its inexplicable lack of setup documentation beyond a few YouTube videos. I’ve long complained that Irrigreen’s instructions are entirely online and are needlessly convoluted. If anyone needs a high-quality printed installation manual, it’s Irrigreen.

However you set things up, the heart of the operation is the Irrigreen controller, a semi-industrial box designed to be wall-mounted and which offers a few basic controls to allow for simple manual operation. You’ll need the Irrigreen app for almost everything, though, so these controls are unlikely to see a lot of use. While plumbing must be run to each sprinkler head, Irrigreen works on a single control cable, which is attached via two screwposts underneath a front-mounted hatch. Unlike standard irrigation systems, you only need to connect two wires to get your entire system online, with subsequent heads daisy-chained in sequence.

Photograph: Chris Null

Irrigreen supports up to 16 sprinkler heads, so any reasonably sized yard should be fully coverable. Note that if you have existing sprinkler lines, you’ll also find additional screwposts in the box allowing for connection to up to eight traditional sprinkler valves—so you don’t have to rip out your old lines entirely if you’re just getting started with Irrigreen. (That said, the magic is in the Irrigreen sprinkler heads, so while the controller can work with older valves, you won’t be able to take advantage of Irrigreen’s key features.)

Watering the World

Connecting Irrigreen’s sprinkler head to a garden hose isn’t particularly difficult, and I was able to configure the components—plumbing and electrical—in just a few minutes. Irrigreen also sends an iPad preloaded with its control software for testing, and it wasn’t until after I paired the controller with the app that my troubles began.

As noted above, Irrigreen’s water-painting system works by spraying narrow streams and rotating through 360 degrees—the same process I described in my review of the Aiper IrriSense 2. To control the distance of the throw, it first has to calibrate itself based on your water pressure, but the Irrigreen app repeatedly failed when I tried to complete this process. The issue appears to have been related to a firmware update for the sprinkler head, which wouldn’t take, and after hours of attempts I finally gave up. After a weekend of idling, I returned to the unit on Monday morning and found that it was finally working properly; presumably the firmware update took during the off hours.