The best sprinklers for lawns and gardens

• Water is essential for plant life and maintaining a healthy garden, lawn, or outdoor grounds.
• Selecting the best type of water delivery system can save money, protect natural resources, and provide the gardening results you desire.
• We tested sprinklers and selected these five options as the best for durability, water distribution, ease of use, and price.
• For a gardener on a budget, the Melnor XT 4000 Oscillating Sprinkler will provide the irrigation your plants need.

Every gardener, including those without a green thumb, needs the right tools and knows that plants need water to survive. Even if you are devoted to cacti and other drought-tolerant xeriscaping grasses and plants, they still need some moisture.

That's why it's important to understand the watering requirements of different plants, your local climate and soil, and how to properly add supplemental water.

One of the best places to start – and it's free – is your local county extension office. Tied to land-grant agricultural colleges in every state, Extension horticulturists can answer your questions and help determine your gardening needs. I'm a farmer's daughter, and I still learned so much from the horticulture specialists and county agents I worked with at Clemson University Extension who advised me to spend some time observing these four things before simply sprinkling water everywhere:

1. Plant variety in the garden: Trees, shrubs, lawn grasses, annuals, and perennials all have different water needs. If you are just getting started, try to group plants with similar water needs together.

2. Climate and annual rainfall: Windy, dry climates are very different from cloudy, humid areas and require different water levels and methods of delivery to get the most moisture to the plant's root system.

3. Soil type: Get to know your dirt. Clay soil is heavy and water is absorbed slowly so you need to water at a slow rate. Water passes through sandy soil quickly and plants need to be watered more often. Loam soil, a combination of sand, clay, and organic matter, distributes water evenly and is the easiest to manage.

4. Size and slope of the garden: Sprinkler choices will depend upon the terrain and the size of the area that needs watering.

If you don't have an automatic irrigation system installed, and don't have time to water every area of your garden with a garden hose or watering can, you will need a sprinkler to help distribute water in your garden. We tested sprinklers for durability, water distribution, ease of use, and, of course, price.

• Best for large lawns: Nelson 1865 RainTrain Traveling Sprinkler
• Best for small lawns: Melnor XT Turbo Metal Oscillating Sprinkler with Flow Control
• Best shelf sprinkler for flowers and vegetables: Gardena 1951 Spike Sprinkler
• Best soaker hose: Gilmour Flat Soaker Hose

Updated on 6/8/2020 by Emily Hochberg: Updated prices, links, and formatting.