Irrigation

A landscape is only as good as the water behind it. Across the South Shore and Greater Boston, we watch beautifully designed properties struggle every July for one reason: irrigation that was never designed, never maintained, or never there at all. At Hynes Landscaping, irrigation is a core discipline — designed, installed, and serviced by the same team that plans your plantings and builds your hardscape. With more than 25 years serving over 145 towns across Massachusetts and Rhode Island from our Stoughton headquarters at 118 Cushing St, we build irrigation systems that keep turf deep green through a Braintree August and keep perennial beds thriving without wasting a gallon.

For homeowners, a properly zoned irrigation system is the difference between a lawn that survives the summer and one that anchors the whole property. For commercial sites, multi-family communities, and HOAs, it is the difference between a landscape investment that matures and one that has to be replanted every few seasons. We handle both — residential systems are our fastest-growing program, and the same crews carry commercial-grade standards onto every home site.

From new installations and smart controller upgrades to spring start-ups, mid-season repairs, and fall winterization, our managed irrigation program covers the entire life of the system. If your lawn is browning in patches, your water bill is climbing, or your current system has not been touched in years, call us at 781-356-3311 and we will put a plan together.

Most irrigation problems are design problems. Heads that throw water onto the driveway, zones that mix sun-baked turf with shaded beds, pipe runs that lose pressure at the far corner of the yard — these are decisions made in an afternoon that a property lives with for twenty years. Our installation process starts long before a trench is cut.

Site Assessment & Hydrozoning

We begin by walking the property and mapping it into hydrozones — areas grouped by plant type, sun exposure, soil, and slope. A south-facing lawn in Weymouth needs a very different watering schedule than a shaded hydrangea border in Milton, and they should never share a zone. We measure static water pressure and flow at the source, account for elevation changes, and size the mainline and laterals so the last head in every zone performs like the first.

Heads, Rotors & Coverage

We install commercial-grade rotors and spray heads matched to each zone's geometry, with head-to-head coverage so there are no dry crescents between throws. Matched-precipitation nozzles keep application rates even across a zone, and pressure-regulated bodies stop the misting that wastes water on windy coastal sites from Quincy to Scituate.

Drip Irrigation for Beds & Gardens

Turf and plantings should never be watered the same way. For foundation beds, perennial borders, vegetable gardens, and container groupings, we install low-flow drip and micro-irrigation that delivers water directly to the root zone — no wet foliage, dramatically less evaporation, and no overspray staining walkways or siding. Drip zones are also the first thing most municipal water restrictions continue to allow, which matters more every summer in Massachusetts.

Watering in Eastern Massachusetts is not just a horticultural question — it is a regulatory one. Many South Shore and MetroWest towns impose seasonal watering restrictions, odd/even day schedules, or outright nonessential-use bans when the state issues drought declarations under the Water Management Act. A system built ten years ago with a basic timer fights those rules; a modern system works within them.

We install Wi-Fi smart controllers that adjust run times daily based on local weather data, skip cycles when rain is coming, and let you — or us — manage the system from a phone. Paired with rain and soil-moisture sensors, a smart controller typically cuts outdoor water use by 20 to 40 percent while producing better turf, because it waters deeply and infrequently instead of a little every day. When your town posts a restriction, schedules can be updated in minutes rather than reprogrammed at a box in the garage.

Cycle-and-soak programming matters on our region's soils, too. Much of the South Shore sits on compacted glacial till and clay that sheds water applied too fast. We program zones to run in shorter cycles with soak intervals between them, so water goes into the root zone instead of down the gutter.

New England is hard on irrigation. Water left in lines through a Massachusetts winter cracks pipe, splits manifolds, and ruptures backflow preventers — repairs that cost many times the price of a proper blowout. Our seasonal program bookends the year:

Spring start-up. We pressurize the system slowly to avoid water-hammer damage, inspect the backflow preventer, run every zone, straighten and level heads that heaved over the winter, adjust arcs and throws, and reprogram the controller for spring conditions and any local restrictions already in effect.

Mid-season checks. For clients on our maintenance program, we audit coverage during the peak season — the point when a clogged nozzle or a head knocked out of alignment by a mower actually shows up as stress in the turf.

Fall winterization. Before hard frost, we shut down the water supply and blow out every zone with compressed air at controlled pressure, drain the backflow, and set the controller for the off-season. It is a one-visit appointment that protects the entire system, and we schedule standing fall slots for returning clients across the South Shore.

Not every property needs a new system — many need the one they have brought back to standard. We diagnose and repair broken lines and fittings, failed zone valves, wiring and solenoid faults, leaking backflow preventers, and controllers that have outlived their logic. We also rehabilitate older systems: rezoning beds onto drip, swapping mismatched heads for matched-precipitation nozzles, and replacing timers with smart controllers. If you have inherited a system with a previous home purchase and have no idea what it does, we will map it, test it, and hand you a zone-by-zone account of what you own.

While our irrigation program is residential-forward, it carries the same commercial DNA as the rest of Hynes Landscaping. We design, install, and maintain irrigation for office parks, retail sites, HOA common areas, and multi-family communities across Massachusetts and Rhode Island — larger mainlines, master valves, flow sensing, and controllers that report problems before a brown stripe appears along a front entrance. If you manage a property where the landscape is part of the asset, irrigation belongs in the maintenance contract, and we will build it in.

Irrigation contractors water lawns. We sustain landscapes — and that difference shows up in the details. Because our designers, masons, planting crews, and irrigation technicians work under one roof, your system is coordinated with everything else on the property: sleeves go under new walkways before the pavers are laid, drip lines are planned alongside the planting plan, and controller schedules reflect what is actually growing in each bed.

We have spent more than 25 years on the same soils, slopes, and water systems from Greater Boston down through the South Shore, and we are fully licensed and insured, with commercial-grade equipment and materials on every job. Our managed program means you are never chasing a different vendor for the start-up, the repair, and the winterization — one team, one number, all season. Call 781-356-3311 to get on the schedule.

How much does an irrigation system cost to install?

Cost depends on lot size, zone count, water source, and whether beds get dedicated drip zones. Most residential systems in our service area land in the range of a mid-sized hardscape project, and we quote a fixed price after a site visit — no per-head surprises. The consultation and layout proposal are part of the process, and we will show you exactly where every zone runs before work begins.

Can you water my lawn during Massachusetts water restrictions?

Usually, yes — within the rules. Most town restrictions limit days and hours rather than banning irrigation outright, and drip irrigation for beds is often exempt even under tighter stages. Smart controllers make compliance simple: we program your allowed windows, and weather-based adjustments handle the rest. During a full nonessential-use ban, we will help you prioritize what the rules still allow you to protect.

When should irrigation be winterized in New England?

We schedule winterizations from mid-October through Thanksgiving, before sustained hard freezes reach buried lines and above-ground backflows. Backflow preventers are the most freeze-vulnerable component and can fail in a single cold night, so do not wait for the first deep frost warning to book. Spring start-ups run April into May, once the frost risk has passed.

Can you repair or upgrade a system another company installed?

Absolutely — a large share of our irrigation work is inherited systems. We will map the zones, test coverage and pressure, repair what is broken, and recommend upgrades in order of impact, usually starting with a smart controller and drip conversion for the beds. You do not need to know who installed it or where the lines run; that is our job to figure out.

Every planting plan, every square foot of turf, and every season of growth depends on water arriving in the right amount at the right time. Hynes Landscaping designs, installs, and services irrigation systems that make that automatic — through August heat, town restrictions, and New England winters alike. From Quincy to Plymouth and across Greater Boston, homeowners and property managers trust our one-team approach to keep landscapes thriving.

Call 781-356-3311 or visit us at 118 Cushing St, Stoughton, MA 02072 to schedule an irrigation consultation. Explore related programs: Turf Management, Strategic Planting, and Landscape Architecture.