Watering the garden has always been an environmentalist's bugbear. Gardens traditionally consume millions of gallons of water per year, most of which aren't even used to actually feed plants - because, usually, gardens are watered using such inefficient methods that at least three quarters of the water dispensed does nothing for the plants one is trying to feed. Garden sprinkler systems, which let gardeners control the amount and direction of the water they are using with far greater efficiency, are rapidly becoming a standard piece of kit for amateur and professional horticulturalists alike. The amount of water wastage expended on British gardens is falling in accordance as the UK gardener gets with the times, ecologically and mechanically speaking. The garden sprinkler is the future, happening right now.
A garden sprinkler system works by parcelling out an even coverage of water over a large area. The sprinkler nozzles are designed to spread the flow and quantity of water out in a sensible fashion, ensuring that an efficient (i.e. the right amount for the area) quantity of water reaches every grass root or every flower. Garden sprinkler systems are operated, usually, from the normal garden tap into which one would plug one's hose - so there are no extra bits of kit required in order to set the system up. That means cost efficiency as well as water efficiency - and that means saving money as well as resources. Using a sprinkler to water the garden is what might be referred to as a "no brainer" - it's a win win situation from every aspect.
Using a hose involves a huge amount of water wastage - and it means you have to be physically out in the garden, wandering around with the nozzle in your hands trying to make sure everything gets its fair share of water. That's time inefficient as well as water wasting. With garden sprinkler systems, one simply turns the thing on and leaves it to go about its business, turning it off again five or ten minutes later when coverage is complete. And one doesn't even have to do that, if one does not wish to - all garden sprinklers can be hooked up to a timer that starts and stops them automatically, according to any one of a number of programmes designed to give the most efficient watering for the time of year.
Because garden sprinkler systems dispense a very fine mist of water, they are actually using far less than one would if one tried to cover the equivalent area with a hose. Fine mist means a greater quantity of droplet surface area - and that means much more use by the plants the water is falling on. A plant only sucks up a fraction of a large droplet - so sprinkler systems simply deliver that fraction and leave the rest alone. The results, if one extrapolates them even over a year, are astonishing. As much as 85% can be saved by using garden sprinkler systems rather than hoses - and that's without even considering all the time freed up by not actually having to stand there and do it oneself. Embrace the future and start sprinkling!