Tools to Water Plants

The traditional watering can carries water in a pail and distributes the water through a spout.

A trip to the local garden supply store presents the amateur horticulturist with watering tools that range from traditional and manually operated to modern and automatic. While some watering tools take the form of small irrigation systems that require basic plumbing skills for installation, other watering tools are easy to operate for gardeners of all ages and skill levels. If you learn about the requirements and capabilities of the common types of watering tools, you can choose tools and methods that suit the scope and scale of your garden.

Watering Can

Often reminiscent of simpler times, the familiar image of a watering can sometimes serves as a symbol of gardening. Watering cans consist of three important parts: an enclosed pail, a handle and a water spout. A watering can's pail resembles an open-topped barrel, and the pail's C-shaped handle protrudes directly from the can's side. A long, thin spout stems from the can's top. To use a watering can, the gardener fills the pail with water and tips the can's spout toward a plant. Although watering cans are inexpensive and easy to use, they require the gardener to carry and frequently refill several gallons of water.

Water Hose and Hose Attachments

Water hoses attach to exterior plumbing fixtures called hose bibbs. Manufacturers typically produce standard garden hoses of layered plastic or rubber. Attachments, or nozzles, affix to the threaded ends of garden hoses. Hose attachments alter the flow of water, often reducing the water's impact or directing its flow. Common hose attachments for watering plants include spray nozzles and misting nozzles. Spray nozzles reduce the impact of a hose's flow and distribute water through a set of pinhole-sized perforations. Misting nozzles produce a gentle, mist-like spray of water by running a hose's flow through a grid of thin holes.

Small-scale Drip Irrigation

With relatively few skills, even patio and container gardeners can assemble a small-scale drip irrigation system. Drip systems deliver a gently controlled flow of water directly to a plant's root zone. Unlike standard polyvinyl chloride (PVC) irrigation pipe, drip tubing is flexible and a gardener can cut the tube with household scissors. Drip tubing adapter fittings allow the gardener to connect the drip system to a standard hose bibb. The installation of drip tubing and fittings does not require special plumbing tools, welding or gluing; drip fittings connect by compression.

Automation Tools

Timers and control valves connect to both hose-mounted watering devices and drip systems. The most common kind of small-scale automation tool is the battery-operated shutoff valve. Hoses or drip tubes connect to the battery-operated shutoff valve and the shutoff valve connects to a standard hose bibb. The valve's electronic timer tells the device when to allow water flow and when to halt water flow.

References

• Washington State University Extension; Watering Home Gardens and Landscape Plants
• Oregon State University Extension; Growing Your Own; Watering Vegetable Gardens
• University of Vermont Extension; Garden Tools of the Trade