How I Recommend You Water Your Cutting Flowers 

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I don’t use drip irrigation in my gardens. I don’t want to fuss with all the plastic. And I don’t want to have to move it off each time I work with a bed. Plus, my hands still hurt from fixing and adjusting many other people’s drip systems.

Sometimes I hand water with my hose-end sprayer, but of course I don’t always have that much time to water adequately

So I use an oscillating sprinkler. And I have found the perfect one to fit a wide variety of needs.

Overhead watering?!?

There’s a lot of talk that overhead watering wastes water and that it burns foliage (and certainly that would include flower petals!). But when I first started my market garden long ago, growing vegetables and flowers, an oscillating sprinkler was all I had. I happened to try out a Gardena oscillating sprinkler and I was able to water that entire large garden with it.

I’d leased a plot of land for this garden, so it was not at my home. This meant that I needed to water during the day. Often in the heat of the day. (Battery operated timers were not very reliable at that time.)

I’d read that doing this would burn leaves. Some said that the drops of water would act like little magnifying glasses and concentrate sunlight on the leaves, leaving burn marks on them. I also worried that I’d damage flower petals.

And I was using well water in a hard water area. So I feared that I’d end up with hardwater spots on my flowers.

But these never happened. And I was growing in a hot, dry, sunny northern California valley.

I even discussed how I watered with a larger flower farmer. He was using drip irrigation. He was surprised that I was overhead watering. He looked for hard water spots and found none. Since this was successful, I’ve continued watering this way.

But not all oscillating sprinklers are the same. In fact, there’s a huge difference between them.

The best oscillating sprinkler for your garden

The only  one I’ll ever  use is the Gardena AquaZoom Fully Adjustable Oscillating Sprinkler*. It has adjustable sliders that let you control the back and forth range. And sliders that let you adjust the width of the coverage.

Gardena tools are made in Germany. They use a “quick-connect” system so you can easily stop water flow by disconnecting any Gardena device from a hose or faucet. So when you want to move your sprinkler to another spot, you can just disconnect the connector and the sprinkler, and the water stops. You get wet just briefly, or not at all.

The connector attaches to your hose and it comes with the sprinkler so you don’t have to fully switch over to the Gardena “method” if you don’t want to. I once did that. But now I only use the AquaZoom… it’s the best sprinkler there is, in my opinion.

But I add another piece to my watering system. I add my trusty little swivel hose-end shut-off valve. I recommend using one with the AquaZoom because when you turn on your water at the faucet, instead of running back and forth to adjust the flow volume, you can adjust it at the sprinkler. (You’ll get a little wet, though.)

Doesn’t it waste water?

I design my gardens to maximize the width of the garden beds and minimize the width of the paths. That way I get the most growing space out of my garden. And when I water, the water on the paths is minimized and soaks into the soil where the plant roots can end up accessing it. Mulching paths with straw helps keep it in the soil.

As far as wasting water goes, I feel that I use all the water that falls on my soil except that which evaporates while it’s in the air. And I don’t feel that is too much. Watering in the morning or late afternoon reduces this evaporation. Plus,… I want to reduce my plastic use as much as possible.

If you’re in a humid region, overhead watering should be done during the day so that the foliage can dry before evening sets in. Otherwise it can foster fungal growth, like powdery mildew, on the foliage and flowers. Early morning is a good time.

More on the AquaZoom Fully Adjustable Oscillating Sprinkler

My model is an older one, so the photos don’t match the ones you’ll find when you shop for the sprinkler. But the function exactly the same. Here’s what’s so good about this sprinkler:

• You control where the water goes in a range from 300 square feet to 3800 square feet, with fully controllable adjusters with a length range of 23-69 ft. in and a width range of 13-55 ft.

• Gardena claims that it’s plastic material is protected from frost damage and from UV rays from the sun. (Still, I love my sprinkler and rely on it so much that I put it away after each use.) And is very durable.

• It comes with a metal filter built into the water connector to keep the dirt and sand particles from getting into the sprayers. Just remove it and clean it on a regular basis.

• It has an extra wide footing so it stays where you put it.

Remember, I recommend pairing it with a swivel hose-end shut-off valve for easier and more precise volume control.

Get your AquaZoom* here. It’s pricier than most others, but it’s SO worth it! (The AquaZoom sprinkler has changed in appearance (and lowered in price!) since I got mine. So the photo of mine will be slightly different from what I’ve pictured here.

Further Reading