BACKGROUND The North China Plain (NCP) faces a severe water shortage, and the amount of rainfall cannot guarantee the growth and development of winter wheat. Therefore, it is important to explore a suitable irrigation and planting pattern to solve the problem of water shortage in this region. RESULTS A 4‐year experiment was carried out in the NCP during 2015–2019. The main plots included two planting patterns: a wide‐precision planting pattern (W) and a conventional planting pattern. Two irrigation regimes were established for each planting pattern: 60‐mm irrigation at the jointing stage (I1) and 60‐mm irrigation delayed 10 days at the jointing stage (I2). The soil water consumption, dry matter translocation, grain yield and crop water productivity were investigated. The results showed that WI2 treatment obtained the highest grain yield and crop water productivity. The wide‐precision planting pattern could significantly decrease soil water consumption; however, delayed irrigation effectively reduced soil water consumption only in normal rainfall years. The coupling of delayed irrigation at the jointing stage and a wide‐precision planting pattern significantly enhanced dry matter accumulation after flowering and the contribution of dry matter accumulation after flowering to grain yield during the growing seasons. WI2 could decrease the evapotranspiration and improve the grain yield, thus increasing crop water productivity. CONCLUSION The combination of a wide‐precision planting pattern and delayed irrigation at the jointing stage was the appropriate agronomic practice for efficient grain yield and crop water productivity in the North China Plain. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.