What is the best kind of sprinkler to use for watering a garden?
I'd like to answer this question in reverse – what is the worst sprinkler to use for watering a garden? Oscillating sprinklers – those engineering marvels that spew water in a vertical arc - have got to be the worst sprinkler design anyone has ever come up with and, incidentally, the only type of sprinkler that was ever used to water gardens, lawns and low flying birds in the suburb where I grew up. Any sprinkler that throws water straight up in the air really needs to be re-thought, preferably after it’s been stomped on a few times.
Drip irrigation is really the best way to go when watering gardens. It puts the water where it needs to be and nowhere else, maximizing the amount of moisture available to your plants while minimizing the amount lost to evaporation. Its biggest drawback, other than the expense, comes in the installation. If you can get a drip irrigation system optimally installed in your garden on the first go without resorting to language that would make your dog faint, you're probably really good at Sudoku, too.
Most of us don't have drip irrigation systems and although sprinklers are wasteful, they are also inexpensive, readily available and easy to use. The best one is the one that causes you the least grief. As a general rule, avoid watering in the middle of the day when evaporation is at its greatest and, better yet, buy a timer and set your sprinkler to run in the early morning hours while you’re still asleep.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
