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Oscillating sprinklers keep your lawn looking lush by rotating to cover more surface area than a typical sprinkler. To help you select the oscillating sprinkler that’s right for you, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best oscillating sprinklers on Amazon. Here are our top five recommendations.
Top 5 Oscillating Sprinklers
- Best For Medium Lawns: Melnor XT Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler
- Best For Large Lawns: Orbit Brass Impact Sprinkler
- Best Connection: Aqua Joe Indestructible Oscillating Sprinkler
- Best Compact Design: Melnor MiniMax Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler
- Best Movement: GrowGreen Sprinkler
Best For Medium Lawns: Melnor XT Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler
This sprinkler has 20 rubber nozzles that can cover up to 4,500 square feet, making it a good choice for medium-sized lawns.
This oscillating sprinkler has tabs on its head that you can push and pull to adjust the coverage length and width. It also features a built-in tool that you can pull out of one of its ends and use to clear any nozzles that are clogged with debris.
Best For Large Lawns: Orbit Brass Impact Sprinkler
With the ability to cover up to 6,360 square feet, this oscillating sprinkler is a great product for customers who have large lawns.
This sprinkler sits on a tripod that can extend up to 48 inches and features an anti-backsplash arm that helps spray water in a consistent pattern. It also has a heavy-duty brass head that’s made for long-term durability.
Best Connection: Aqua Joe Indestructible Oscillating Sprinkler
The connection point on this oscillating sprinkler has a built-in mesh filter, preventing debris in the hose’s water from entering the sprinkler and clogging the nozzles.
With its coverage area of up to 3,600 square feet, this sprinkler is a good choice for those with small- or medium-sized yards. This product also has a tool that’s stored on its head that can be used to poke clogs out of its 16 rubber nozzles.
Best Compact Design: Melnor MiniMax Turbo Oscillating Sprinkler
Weighing just 1.36 pounds, this lightweight sprinkler is compact and portable, making it easy for you to transport it to a different part of your lawn or store it in your garage.
This sprinkler has four adjustment points—two for the nozzles and two for the head—enabling you to control range, width, and flow. Despite its small footprint, it has a coverage area of up to 4,000 square feet for medium lawns. It’s also available with a variety of bases, including a tripod, sled, and spike.
Best Movement: GrowGreen Sprinkler
This sprinkler has three heads that sit parallel to the ground and spin 360 degrees, giving you coverage for a large portion of your lawn.
This oscillating sprinkler has rotating tips, allowing you to change the direction the nozzles are pointing. This adjustability along with its high water pressure of 80 pounds per square inch give this sprinkler the ability to reach a maximum coverage area of 3,600 square feet.
Buyer’s Guide
Here are three of the most important factors to consider before purchasing an oscillating sprinkler.
Coverage Area
Manufacturers will tell you how large of an area their sprinklers can cover. This coverage area can vary from less than 2,000 square feet to over 4,500 square feet. If you have a larger lawn, look for a sprinkler with a larger coverage area. Even then, you may still have to move the sprinkler a few times to water every area.
Material
Most sprinklers are made of plastic because it’s more affordable. However, this plastic can warp or crack under direct sunlight. Metal is a more durable alternative, but it costs more.
Adjustability
Some oscillating sprinklers have adjustable nozzles, allowing you to change where the water is hitting. These nozzles help you to water more area before needing to move the sprinkler.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know when my lawn has been watered enough?
Your lawn needs about one inch of water, including rainwater, per week. This is enough to moisten the soil six to eight inches down, allowing it to grow and stay green. If you’re unsure what one inch looks like, try the container test. Place small containers around your yard, and time how long it takes for these containers to fill with one inch of water. That’s the amount of time you should leave your sprinkler running in the future.
What time of day should I water my lawn?
The best time to water your lawn is in the morning after the sun rises but before the day reaches its hottest point. If you water it while the sun is down, the water will pool, and if you water it at the hottest part of the day, the water will evaporate before it gets absorbed.
What’s the quick connector on my sprinkler?
The quick connector is the piece that your garden hose connects to. If your sprinkler doesn’t have this piece, you can purchase it separately.
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This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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