Shopping for Sprinklers?

When the drought months hit that is the time most of us think about regularly watering our lawns, landscapes and gardens, or perhaps the time we begin hastily shopping for a sprinkler to move around the yard if we do not have an installed irrigation system. So lets consider some of the types of sprinklers available and their purposes.

There’s a sprinkler made for almost every watering need, and we’ll tell you about most of them in this article, and give you a few tips for proper watering, and how to conserve moisture in your garden.

As most gardeners know, the garden must be soaked several inches deep to give the plants or lawn the proper amount of moisture. instead of merely a light surface sprinkling every day or so. If you merely sprinkle lightly, only crab grass with its shallow root system will really thrive! For established plants or lawns and landscapes, a deep soaking is vital. A thorough soaking penetrating the soil several inches deep every five days or so is usually sufficient.

Since water shortages continue to become critical in some areas, here are some tips for conserving moisture. Mix organic materials with the soil. Use compost, leaf mold, peat moss, rotted manure or humus, mixed with the soil. The materials help increase the water holding capacity of the soil. and gradually release the moisture to the roots of the thirsty plants. Be sure to keep your garden free of weeds, too, since weeds rob our plants of both moisture and plant nutrients.

Most of you are familiar with the basic lawn sprinkle, that will water a diameter of ten to 50 feet. depending on the size and type. They do an effective job for the most part. Prices range front $10 on up. The sprinklers are usually adjustable to spray different sized areas with a mist or medium to coarse droplets.

Sprinkler-Soaker Hoses

Sprinkler-soaker hoses water with a fine mist that penetrates deeply with-out any run-off. The hoses range from 20 to 50 feet in length, and are easy to wind around flower beds or garden spots to water specific areas. Some users may consider the fine mist a disadvantage because of evaporation loss. Some of this evaporation can be avoided by watering in the early morning or late afternoon. The soakers will soak the soil deeply without any run-off. Good quality sprinkler-soakers will usually range from $15 to $35, depending on length.

Manufacturers: Lawson, Dramm, Raindrip, Gilmour, Nelson

Oscillating Sprinklers

A sprinkler that has long been a popular one is the oscillating-type sprinkler that is adjustable to water various rectangular sized areas. These will water rectangular areas from ten feet by ten feet up to 40 feet by 60 feet, and adjust to give a medium to coarse spray. These sprayers will water either side, both sides, or any point in between. Prices range from around $25 to $45.

Manufacturers: Melnor, Orbit, Nelson

Traveling Sprayers

Did you know that there are sprinklers that will “walk” a pattern over your lawn, sprinkling as they go? One of the units has a grooved wheel and uses the hose as a “track.” A pair of driving pawls at the back of the sprayer move the sprinkler along. You attach the sprinkler to the end of the garden hose, lay out the hose in the pattern you want the sprinkler to follow; adjust for speed and type of spray, and away it goes. Prices range from around $45 to $65.

Manufacturers: Melnor, John Deere, Nelson, Buchner, Gilmour

Underground Sprinkler Systems

If you really want to relax and let your sprinklers do all of your watering for you, you’ll want to consider an underground sprinkler system, especially if a large beautiful lawn is your pet project.

Most of the popular systems use plastic hose or PVC that is buried underground and equipped with sprayer heads, some of which rise under water pressure, and retract when the pressure is off.

Prices will range from about $150 for a basic do-it-yourself kit, up to around a thousand on up for a custom installation.

Manufacturers: Toro, Nelson, Rainbird, Dramm, Buchner, Gilmour

Specialized Sprinklers

Next are the specialized sprinklers, the kind that the enthusiastic gardener especially enjoys owning and using, because they are made for specific watering jobs.

Specialized Watering Devices

Another specialized watering unit is called drip irrigation and micro-jet irrigation. These type of watering devices attach to tubing and has emitters attached to plastic tubing. The tubed and emitters are placed at the base of the plants and water turned on. Slowing with a drip or fine spray the water is put right around the plant and will soak deeply into the ground. The method uses much less water and puts the water right at the roots.

The pistol grip hose nozzle that long been a popular watering attachment. You can adjust water pressure or turn off the wager with just a squeeze of the trigger.

Last, bug not least. are the automatic timers. These range from approximately $50 upward, and can can be set turn off your sprinklers and watering zones at any pre-set time limit, relieving you of the problem of remembering go turn off the water.

Manufacturers: Toro, Weathermatic, Rainbird, Orbit

A trip to the local garden center or big box gardening department will open a wealth of possibilities, make sue you spend some time online also looking t all the makes and models.

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