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Hi Hugh,
Does the controller you have show options for the soil, sprinkler, sun/shade, slope and or plant types? If so by monkeying with these parameters you can change the amount of water that the controller will apply to the plant material.
I.E. Turf will require more water than shrubs, sandy soil will require more water than clay soil, sunny areas more water than shady...
The theory behind the operation of these controllers is you program in the basic parameters for each valve, then the controller takes information from a local weather station and sets the run time for the valves that it thinks your garden needs to keep it irrigated properly. The key to getting the thing running right is pay a little more attention to your plant material once you install the system than you might ordinarily and if it is showing signs of stress tweak the parameters a little until you get it balanced out.
In my experience with these systems you can typically tweak them into running right pretty quickly, but keep in mind the more intricate your landscape is the more time it may take to get it right.
Another key element to having them run right is making sure that your irrigation system is valved properly, (plant material of similar water needs valved together).
I have been involved with at least a couple of hundred projects with these types of systems and have had good success, they do however do some weird things sometimes regarding start and run times so be ready for the unexpected...
I hope this helps, good luck!
Chris
p.s. I am in socal, if you want to chat about your system shoot me your number in a pm and I will give you a call.
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