How to Buy Lawn Sprinklers

Watering your lawn for maximum effect and minimum waste and effort is accomplished in one of two ways: above ground movable sprinklers or permanent in-ground sprinkler system (see the in-ground sprinkler series). Here we will cover those garden house-fed sprinklers that are often perfect for small lawns or garden areas.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Choose from a variety of sprinkler types to fit your needs.

2. Try a tractor style or traveling type sprinkler for larger areas. These use a spinning sprinkler head on a wheeled contraption that uses the water pressure to power it along a course you prescribe using the garden hose as a track for the grooved front wheel to ride on. Flat or gently undulating ground surface is required for this type sprinkler to work efficiently.

3. Use the oscillating type sprinklers for fairly large roughly square-shaped areas. Oscillators are the sprinklers that wave back and forth in a large water rainbow kind of pattern. Adjusting the water pressure at the spigot allows some control of the size of area being watered but on most models there is a minimum pressure required to cause the sprinkler to move. Some of the newer models come with limiting devices built in that allow you to control the range of motion.

4. Go with a pulsating sprinkler,, sometimes known as an impact sprinkler for large roughly defined areas. These sit in the middle of the space and broadcast over a large circular area.

5. Put a constant pattern sprinkler to use in small areas or a definite size. They come set up to shoot in patterns covering round, square and rectangle shaped areas.