A garden sprinkler can save you time and effort, as well as water and money. However, it’s important to find the best lawn sprinkler to suit your specific garden.
If you’re thinking about buying a sprinkler, take a look at the following tips to help you make an informed purchase.
Different Types of Sprinkler
There are a lot of different lawn sprinklers on the market and knowing more about each style will help you find a good garden sprinkler for the area you want to water.
Rotary Sprinkler
These round sprinklers usually have three or four arms that spin and cover a circular area. One of the best things about rotating sprinklers is how far they can spray water. However, they do not achieve an even coverage because the area closer to the sprinkler receives more water.
A rotating sprinkler will generally have some adjustable spray settings. You may be able to alter the rotation speed and power. However, you can’t generally change the spray patterns much.
Unless you have a large garden, you may find that a rotary sprinkler wastes water, watering fences or even your neighbour’s garden.
Rectangular Oscillating Sprinkler
These sprinklers have a ‘sled’ design, and can be placed on the ground or strapped to raised supports to alter the spray angle.
They’re some of the top garden sprinklers in terms of versatility. You can get models with lots of adjustable settings making it possible to customise the water spray to the size of the watering area.
Given that most of us have rectangular gardens, these rectangular sprinklers can limit water wastage too.
They’re often quite lightweight, so may become unstable if placed on uneven ground; however, as mentioned – they can be attached to supports which helps with stability.
Because of the adjustable pattern and flow control, rectangular sprinklers are suitable for most sized gardens. They attach to a garden hose and can be stored away when necessary.
Stationary Sprinkler
Unlike the sprinklers above, these do not oscillate or move. Most stationary sprinklers have two spray patterns: full or part circle.
Several stationary sprinklers will need to be used to cover the whole lawn, as their maximum area coverage is limited, so they’re better for small or medium sized gardens.
They’re also useful if you have low water pressure, as the cover a small area and don’t require as much force to spray water as moving sprinklers.
Pop Up Sprinkler
Whilst the sprinklers above are temporary, and attach to a garden hose when required, a pop up sprinkler is part of a more permanent irrigation system.
The sprinkler head sits below the ground until the sprinkler is turned on. It then ‘pops up’ to start watering.
As you can imagine, this isn’t the cheapest sprinkler set-up, and they’re also time-consuming to install. Nevertheless, they’re a good option for regularly watering the lawn and established plants.
Size of Coverage
Check the water coverage of the sprinkler you want to buy and compare it with the size of your garden. Bear in mind that the coverage may be reduced if your water pressure is lower than 4 bars.
If you have a large garden but low pressure, you’ll have to buy several oscillating sprinklers if you don’t want to keep moving one around.
Choose a sprinkler that has adjustable spray settings so that you do not waste water. In particular, it helps to be able to adjust the spray width so that you can avoid spraying paths, driveways and patios (as well as passers-by when watering the front garden!).
Quality Matters
Not all sprinklers are created equal. It’s important to choose the best garden sprinkler to ensure that you get an even spray without leaks or water wastage causing problems.
A good quality product will give you years of use, whereas a cheap version may cause you nothing but hassle and need replacing after a short time.
Here are some of the properties of a high quality sprinkler:
- A stable base which will give strong support to the sprinkler.
- Balanced oscillation – if you buy a cheap oscillating sprinkler, it may slow down at the end of each oscillation creating puddles close to the unit!
- A high number of jets – the more jets the garden sprinkler has, the more evenly it will water your lawn and garden.
- An adjustable spray pattern – buying a sprinkler with plenty of adjustable settings will save you money in the long run. You can customise the settings for your garden to avoid wasting water.
- A brass hose connector. This will reduce the likelihood the connector getting worn over time.
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