Water and healthy soil both play key parts in creating a successful lawn or garden. Effective watering and sprinkler selection should start with some questions like what is being watered, how often will the area be watered, and what kind of soil. Another consideration to the watering decision process can be planting plants with similar requirements together so wet and dry zones are more manageable.
Sprinkler Selection
Oscillating sprinklers have long been a consumer favorite because of their ease of use. They are also excellent for newly seeded lawns due to their gentler, more rain-like spray. They come sized for medium to larger lawns and offer a variety of adjustments. Like all sprinklers, the attainable coverage is based on water pressure. The average water pressure in many communities ranges from 40 to 60 PSI.
Impulse sprinklers got their start in agriculture, and are available in many sizes and still used today. Consumers can enjoy units scaled for residential use that can cover large yard areas. Typical adjustments include full or part circle, distance control and a diffuser screw that can break up the stream for a less powerful spray. Available in metal and polymer with both sled and spike bases, impulse sprinklers are almost as popular as oscillating sprinklers. With heavy clay soil, a unit with a sled based will be much simpler to use.
Small area sprinklers allow for targeted watering, ideal for a garden with wet/dry zones. Most provide a single pattern that can be selected to match the area to be watered. Another option is a turret sprinkler with a large pattern dial than may offer as many as 9 different choices.
Whichever sprinkler is selected, encourage customers to water early in the day so the water can be used by the plants during the day and early enough not to burn the plants as the water dries.
All About Nozzles
One of the garden’s great multi-taskers, the nozzle can go from watering flowers to washing a car in an instant. Offer an assortment of features and sizes, as not all nozzles fit all hands comfortably. Dial nozzles with multiple patterns offer the maximum versatility, but standard pistol grips and the brass twist nozzles have been best sellers for years. Be sure to add some of the newer designs with the large thumb control – very easy for older hands and smaller hands to use. There will also be some customers who may need a specialized nozzle for a particular application such as hot water.
Don’t Forget the Accessories
Accessories can do so many things to bring added convenience and performance to other watering products. Products like quick connectors make changing watering tools so much faster and easier. Flow controls can be a single, double or even quadruple connector, available in poly, zinc or brass. There are also those called “full flow” that do not restrict water and offer larger knobs that can be gripped comfortably, even when wearing gloves.
Hose repair is another important part of watering. The Kinex clamshell style repair in both zinc/brass and poly offers larger clamps and longer, stainless steel screws, much better suited to secure repairs on premium hoses with larger diameters.
Arett & Kinex
SLT – Kinex watering is a proud partner of Arett Sales. Their goal is to offer quality, value and innovation to support and grow a successful watering program!
*Garden Trends Research Report, October 2013
Garden Writers Association Foundation
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