Irrigation Services Castle Rock, CO

Name: HLE Landscaping & Concrete, Landscaping Services
Address: 6617 S Catawba Way, Aurora, CO, 80016, USA
Telephone: (720) 634-6540
Price range: $$$

Zoning a Castle Rock System for Every-Third-Day Watering

The answer is dividing the yard into zones that each get the right amount of water on the days Castle Rock Water allows. Turf, shrub beds, and trees use water at different rates, so they belong on separate valves with their own run times rather than one schedule for everything.

Owner Brandon Gallegos and our crew begin with a consultation: what’s planted, what’s planned, how you use the yard, and what you want to spend. From there we lay out a system to fit, drawing on the same experience behind our irrigation and drainage systems. A typical Castle Rock project covers:

Irrigation system design for new landscapes or renovations
Sprinkler system installation for lawn areas
Drip lines and emitters for beds, trees, and narrow side yards
Smart controllers, rain sensors, and soil moisture sensors
Sprinkler repair and maintenance on systems already in the ground

(720) 634-6540

Spray Heads for the Back Lawn, Drip for the Front and the Strips

In Castle Rock, spray heads are mainly for open lawn in the back yard, while front yards and narrow strips run on drip. For single-family and two-family homes, the Town’s criteria allow no permanent overhead spray anywhere in a front yard, restrict any strip less than 10 feet across to drip or subsurface tubing, and leave spaces under 4 feet wide with no irrigation at all.

Drip is the better tool for those spots anyway. Emitters and drip line release water slowly at the base of shrubs, perennials, and trees, so it sinks to the roots instead of drifting onto the driveway or evaporating before it reaches the soil. Subsurface line takes that a step further by watering from just below the surface. If new beds are coming, plan the watering together with our Castle Rock planting services so plants and lines go in at the same time.

info@hlelandscaping.com

Castle Rock Water and Town Rules We Design Around

These local rules decide how a Castle Rock irrigation system is built and run. Each one links to the Town or Castle Rock Water page it comes from.

Every third day, 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
The standard season for Castle Rock Water’s restrictions opens May 1 and closes Sept. 30. Every third day is the most a sprinkler system may run; residential watering hours start at 8 p.m. and end at 8 a.m. (nonresidential sites get midnight until 8 a.m.), and a hand-held hose can be used at any hour as long as nothing is wasted.
Source: Castle Rock Water — Watering Guidelines
Equipment the criteria require
The 2026 Landscape and Irrigation Criteria Manual requires single-family and two-family systems to have a WiFi smart controller with battery backup, a rain sensor, a master valve, and a backflow assembly. The controller requirement applies to homeowner installs as well.
Source: Town of Castle Rock — Landscape and Irrigation Criteria Manual (2026)
When those criteria apply
New construction falls under them, and so does a renovation or retrofit that reaches 25 percent of the landscaped area served by a single tap, or 10,000-plus square feet. Any replacement part installed during routine maintenance has to satisfy the current criteria, and wherever they apply, the Town’s rules take priority over HOA or metro-district landscape guidelines.
Source: Town of Castle Rock — Landscape and Irrigation Criteria Manual (2026)
Drought stages cut watering days
The Town’s drought plan steps down from two watering days a week in Stage 2 to one day in Stage 3. Stage 4 bans outdoor irrigation entirely, and Stage 5 keeps that ban and adds indoor restrictions.
Source: Town of Castle Rock — Drought Management
Money back on rotary nozzles
Castle Rock Water’s rebate program pays up to $5 per rotary nozzle retrofit. Smart controllers aren’t on its rebate list, so budget for that part of an upgrade without one.
Source: Castle Rock Water — Rebates

Irrigation Service for Newer Castle Rock Subdivisions

Macanta, Dawson Trails, and Montaine are newer areas named in Town documents. In Macanta, the Town reviews backyard landscape designs itself.

Macanta
Dawson Trails
Montaine

What the Smart Controller, Rain Sensor, and Master Valve Actually Do

Each one keeps the system from wasting water in a different way. A smart controller brings in weather data such as rainfall and temperature and changes run times to match, watering less in a cool, wet stretch and more in a hot, dry one. A rain sensor pauses or cancels a cycle while rain is falling. A master valve sits upstream of the zone valves and stays closed between cycles, so a zone valve that sticks open or a leak in the main line can’t keep flowing.

Battery backup holds the controller’s program and clock through a power outage.
A backflow assembly keeps water in the irrigation lines from flowing back into the home’s drinking water.
Soil moisture sensors tell the controller how wet the ground is, so it can skip a cycle the soil doesn’t need. They earn their keep in a town where USDA soil maps range from clay-heavy ground to gravelly and sandy loams.

For more on how these pieces save water, read our guide to water-efficient irrigation for Colorado homes.

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Repairing and Retuning an Existing Castle Rock System

Often an older system needs repairs and a better schedule rather than replacement. Brown patches, soggy low spots, water sheeting down the curb, or a zone that won’t shut off usually point to a particular head, valve, or line, and tracking it down comes first.

Two local rules affect the fix. Castle Rock’s criteria require replacement parts used in routine maintenance to meet current standards, so an exact copy of a worn-out part isn’t always the right purchase. And because a drought stage can change the allowed days in the middle of summer, seasonal adjustments to run times keep the lawn watered without breaking the rules. If new grass is part of the plan, start with our sod installation page for Castle Rock.

Four Habits That Make Each Castle Rock Watering Day Count

Good equipment only goes so far. These practices, which we build into the designs we draw, trim water use further.

Zone by water need
Plants that drink about the same share a zone, so no bed is soaked to keep a thirstier neighbor alive.
Water in the early morning
Cycles timed for the last hours before the 8 a.m. cutoff lose less water to evaporation.
Mulch the beds
Mulch keeps soil moist longer. In the first 5 feet around buildings, the Town wants stone-type mulch such as rock, gravel, or cobble, not wood.
Plant for the climate
Xeriscape plantings built around native Colorado species need much less water once they’re established.

Our post on water-wise landscaping and drought-tolerant plants has plant ideas that pair well with drip.

Watering Near Foundations, on Slopes, and Behind Walls

Near the house, the goal is keeping water off the foundation. The Colorado Geological Survey counts irrigation beside foundations among the things that worsen damage from swelling soils, so heads close to the house are aimed away from it and foundation beds get drip.

Hillsides and raised planters call for the same restraint. Spray on a steep bank tends to run off before it soaks in, so we favor drip line and low-flow emitters for slopes, terraced beds, and planters built into retaining walls, and keep spray zones on the flatter lawn areas.

(720) 634-6540

From the First Visit to the First Watering Cycle

Site visit
We look at the water source, the layout, what’s growing, and what you’d like to spend.
Zone plan and price
A layout of zones, heads, and drip lines, with a clear estimate before anything is scheduled.
Utility locates
Colorado 811 is notified two or more business days before trenching starts, and the day of the notice doesn’t count.
Trench and install
Pipe, valves, heads, and drip components go in, and the trenches are backfilled.
Program the controller
Run times are set zone by zone for Castle Rock Water’s days and hours.

Irrigation Planned With the Rest of Your Castle Rock Landscape

Because HLE also builds patios, retaining walls, lawns, and planting beds, the irrigation can be laid out alongside the rest of a project instead of worked in after the fact. See everything we offer locally on our landscaping services hub for Castle Rock, or call to set up a free consultation.

(720) 634-6540 info@hlelandscaping.com

Watering Rules and Sprinkler Questions From Castle Rock Homeowners

When can a residential sprinkler system run in Castle Rock?

Residential systems can start after 8 p.m. and must be off by 8 a.m., on every third day, during Castle Rock Water’s normal May 1 to Sept. 30 restriction season. Hand watering with a hose is allowed at any time as long as no water is wasted, and a declared drought stage can reduce the number of watering days.

Are spray sprinklers allowed in a Castle Rock front yard?

Not permanent overhead ones on a single-family or two-family home where the Town’s criteria apply. The 2026 Landscape and Irrigation Criteria Manual bars permanent above-ground watering in front yards, so front plantings are watered with drip or subsurface lines. Those criteria kick in for new construction and for a renovation or retrofit that touches at least a quarter of a tap’s landscaped area or 10,000-plus square feet.

Do the Town's irrigation criteria affect a simple repair?

Yes, through the parts. Castle Rock requires replacement parts used in routine maintenance to meet its current criteria, so check that a new valve, head, or controller complies before buying a direct replacement for the old one.

What happened to Castle Rock's watering schedule during the 2026 drought?

It tightened for about six weeks. Stage 2 took effect on July 19, 2026, making two watering days a week mandatory and halving Tier 2 outdoor water budgets, and the utility stepped back down to Stage 1 on Sept. 1. Stage 1 brought back the every-third-day schedule and asks customers for a voluntary 10% reduction.

Does the Town inspect new landscaping and irrigation in Macanta?

Yes. In Macanta, the Town must preapprove new or changed backyard landscape designs, a review that can take up to 10 business days, and homeowners must pass a final landscape and irrigation inspection. Renovating an existing landscape there needs no Town plan review. Plan the timing, too: the Town’s inspection calendar for landscape and irrigation work skips Oct. 1 through March 1.

Call (720) 634-6540 or send HLE Landscaping & Concrete a message to book a free irrigation consultation for your Castle Rock home.