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Short of standing around with a hose in your hand, sprinklers are the simplest and cheapest way to keep growing things quenched.
Which type to choose depends on your climate and greenery, the shape of your lawn or beds, and the texture of your soil—whether it's porous sand, dense clay, or absorbent loam affects how fast you need to put the water out. Unless you have a small, square plot of grass, most likely you'll need a couple of models to reach all the areas that need watering.
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Sprinklers are relatively inexpensive—from $15 to $35 for the more common oscillating, pulsating, or rotating varieties—so choosing a few is easy on the wallet. Here, you'll find out how to pick the best sprinkler for your landscape, plus tips for proper watering.
Rotating Sprinklers
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Good for: Watering very small lawns or isolating garden beds in a drought. Adjusts from a gentle mist for seedlings to heavy rain on established grass, at all water pressures. Look for wheels or a sled base so you can move it without getting soaked.
Shown: N54 Rainswirl 45 sprinkler; about $18; Amazon
Rotating Sprinklers
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- Spray pattern: Circle or square
- Watering speed: Slow to very fast
- Reach: 50 to 60 feet in diameter
Quiet Rotor Sprinklers
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Good for: Large yards that need a lot of water in a short time. The mechanism is concealed inside the head, which muffles the chugging-train noise many sprinklers make. Works well with low water pressure.
Shown: Advanced turbine rotary sprinkler by Gilmour Group; about $16; Amazon
Quiet Rotor Sprinklers
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- Spray pattern: Full or partial circle
- Watering speed: Fast
- Reach: 70 to 80 feet in diameter
Multihead Sprinklers
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Good for: Small, oddly shaped yards or plant beds, especially in drought areas since hose heads can be directed to minimize water waste.
Shown: Noodlehead sprinkler N101B; about $17; Noodlehead Sprinkler
Multihead Sprinklers
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- Spray pattern: Endless variations, changed by bending small hose heads
- Watering speed: Slow
- Reach: 10 to 35 feet, depending on water pressure
Oscillating Sprinklers
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Good for: Square or rectangular lawns and gardens. Most have size and direction adjustment, and some have a built-in timer with automatic shutoff.
Shown: Craftsman metal oscillating sprinkler; about $30; Sears
Oscillating Sprinklers
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- Spray pattern: Rectangle
- Watering speed: Fast
- Reach: Up to 70 feet long by 60 feet wide
Pulsating Sprinklers
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Good for: Large yards and beds, especially newly seeded lawns and clay soils, which are best watered slowly. The flow can be adjusted to suit the absorbency of the soil; and because the spray stays close to the ground, there's less drift on windy days.
Shown: Gilmour large coverage sprinkler with spike base; about $32; Bailey's Online
Pulsating Sprinklers
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- Spray pattern: Full or partial circle
- Watering speed: Slow
- Reach: 85 to 90 feet in diameter
Walking Sprinklers
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Good for: Large areas with turns or hills where other sprinklers water unevenly. Guided by the front wheel, the two-speed sprinkler crawls in one direction along a hose, covering 20 or 40 feet per hour. Sometimes shaped like tractors, trains, or earth movers, walking sprinklers weigh 22 to 32 pounds (to pull a full hose) and cost $100 or more.
Similar to shown: Walking sprinkler model A-5 from the National Manufacturing Co.; about $125; National Walking Sprinkler
Walking Sprinklers
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- Spray pattern: Long, winding path
- Watering speed: Slow to medium
- Reach: 4 to 50 feet on either side of a hose up to 200 feet long
Sprinkler Hose
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Good for: Watering plant beds invisibly and keeping them hydrated in a drought without evaporation waste. Snaked through a garden, a soaker hose drips water directly onto the soil through dozens of perforations. A sprinkler hose emits low 1- to 12-foot sprays from small heads. Both can be masked by mulch or shallow soil.
Shown: LR Nelson simple soaker sprinkler hose; about $42; Walmart
Sprinkler Hose
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- Spray pattern: Changeable
- Watering speed: Very slow to slow
- Reach: Length of hose
Soaker Hose
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Good for: Watering plant beds invisibly and keeping them hydrated in a drought without evaporation waste. Snaked through a garden, a soaker hose drips water directly onto the soil through dozens of perforations. A sprinkler hose emits low 1- to 12-foot sprays from small heads. Both can be masked by mulch or shallow soil.
Similar to shown: 100-foot Mr. Soaker soaker hose; about $20; Mr. Drip
Soaker Hose
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- Spray pattern: Changeable
- Watering speed: Very slow to slow
- Reach: Length of hose
How Much Should You Water?
Every lawn or garden is different, but the guidelines below offer some advice based on your weather, soil, and greenery. A sprinkler should only supplement the natural rainfall, though any lawn is ready for watering if the soil is dry 6 inches down.
One important rule, according to This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook: Try to water only in the early morning. The midday heat will evaporate all your efforts, and plants watered later don't dry before nightfall, leaving them vulnerable to fungal diseases.
Watering Established Lawns
- Clay Soil: 1 inch in 2 applications every 7 to 14 days for temperate climates; 1 inch in 3 applications every 3 to 4 days in hot and dry climates
- Loam: 1 inch in 2 applications every 5 to 10 days in temperate climates; 1 inch in 3 applications every 2 to 3 days in hot and dry climates
- Sandy Soil: 1 inch in 2 applications every 5 to 7 days in temperate climates; 1 inch in 2 applications every 2 to 3 days in hot and dry climates
Watering New Lawns
- Clay Soil: ¼ inch 3 times daily in both temperate and hot and dry climates
- Loam: ¼ inch 3 times daily in both temperate and hot and dry climates
- Sandy Soil: ¼ inch 3 times daily in both temperate and hot and dry climates
Watering Trees and Shrubs
- Clay Soil: ½ inch in 2 applications every 7 to 14 days in temperate climates; 1 inch in 2 or 3 applications every 4 days in hot and dry climates
- Loam: ½ inch every 5 to 10 days in temperate climates; 1 inch in 2 or 3 applications every 3 days in hot and dry climates
- Sandy Soil: ½ inch every 5 to 7 days in temperate climates; 1 inch in 2 or 3 applications every other day in hot and dry climates
Watering Flowers
- Clay Soil: ¼ to ½ inch every 3 to 4 days in temperate climates; ½ inch every 3 to 4 days in hot and dry climates
- Loam: ¼ to ½ inch every 3 to 4 days in temperate climates; ½ inch every 2 to 3 days in hot and dry climates
- Sandy Soil: ¼ to ½ inch every day or two in temperate climates; ½ inch every day or two in hot and dry climates
Watering Vegetables
- Clay Soil: 1 inch once or twice weekly in both temperate and hot and dry climates
- Loam: 1 inch 2 or 3 times weekly in temperate climates; 1 inch 2 or 3 times weekly in hot and dry climates
- Sandy Soil: 1 inch 3 or 4 times weekly in temperate climates; 1 inch 4 times weekly to daily in hot and dry climates