The Dry Garden: Armed with water savers

Emily Green, who writes our weekly column on drought-tolerant gardening, points out that a hose nozzle can greatly cut down on wasted irrigation -- as long as it's not watering your arms and shoes. Why is a decent nozzle so hard to find? Green tests 10 of them, and to discover whether you should be running out to buy a purple Dramm Revolver like the one above, click to her column after the jump. 

By Emily Green

If there’s one thing harder to get than a good garden hose, it’s a good nozzle to fit on it. Now that we’re in a drought, good nozzles we need.

Nozzles can cut the amount of water used during hand watering, and they’re now required in Los Angeles for car washing. The way nozzles achieve these savings is simple. They shut off water as hose-draggers move around.

Most modern nozzles also are water-shapers. They pressurize water coming from the hose, so many can emit everything from fine mists to fierce jets. The fancier the model, the more patterns it may advertise, including mist, flat, angle, shower, fan, cone, center and jet.

So, nozzles are great investments, right? On the face of it, yes. In the store, you can expect change from a 10 for what might look a half-decent nozzle and change from a 20 for what appears to be a decent one.

If, that is, you don’t succumb to option paralysis. Shopping for a garden hose nozzle can feel more like a tour through a gun show than a walk through the garden center. Expect names such as Pistol and Magnum, but do not necessarily buy the Howitzer model. Throughout the armament, nozzles share one universal flaw: Even the best wear out.

Their washers get wear and tear. Hose ends get banged up and don’t thread properly. However it happens, within months of purchasing even the most expensive models, nozzles are unsurpassed at dribbling water down your wrist and into your shoe.

I purchased and tested 10 models at stores around Los Angeles, and two nozzles leaked from the handle the first time they were used. And the Vigoro Heavy-Duty Adjustable Pistol Nozzle actually exploded.

Many were adequate, including the simplest brass and steel twist attachment, the 41/2-inch BackYard Pro. However, watch that a controlled flow of water doesn’t turn into a spray, ensuring water in the shoe. Some, such as BackYard Pro’s 6-inch spray nozzle, have no off position. These models should be banned.

The simplest ones, including the SunMate Mini Magnum from Orbit Irrigation Products, amount to little more than valves. Fewer movable parts leave less to break for those prone to tossing the hose down, but the pattern control on the Mini Magnum was poor.
 
A personal favorite was the Dramm Revolver. It’s more comic book ray gun than pistol, has nine patterns and comes in pretty colors, but it’s blatantly girly. Men may prefer the Toro 8 Pattern Front Trigger.

Whatever you buy, beware of any cheap or conspicuously fragile parts. Nozzles should  be tough and simple. Always check to make sure they come with a rubber or synthetic seal to act as a washer.

And rather than imagine that this seal will survive regular twisting against a gritty hose end, stop by the plumbing aisle on your way out for additional washers. No matter which nozzle you buy, you’ll need the washers.

Green’s column on low-water gardening appears weekly on this blog. She also blogs at www.chanceofrain.com.

Photos: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Emily Green]

A post script. A visitor who saw the array of nozzles in my house laid out for comparison testing was provoked into a 15 minute rant about the deficiencies of most garden nozzles, chiefly that they leak. He was exercised enough that he e-mailed later to add that his best non-leak experience came from a model that he described as the "Gilmour Supreme." It is made, he added with July 4 emphasis, "in the USA."

I saw a number of boasts online about the non-leaking capabilities of nozzles from various manufacturers, but am reluctant to repeat the claims without testing the actual devices. I have bought many a notionally "kink-free" hose and have yet to find one. There must be a nozzle equivalent of the Felco pruner out there. So far for me, it's the Dramm Revolver, but I am free for and open to upgrades.

[Emily Green]

In the Miss Information department, a correction. A very nice civil engineer specializing in hydraulics wrote me to say, "hose nozzles do not pressurize the water. They only shape and restrict the flow of water that is coming to the nozzle through the hose. By reducing the area that is available for the water to flow through the nozzle can make less water flow but make it flow faster. The restrictions in the nozzle actually cause a loss of pressure (due to friction), not an increase. It would be correct to say that nozzles depressurize, but so do hoses and hose bibs and shower heads and faucets, etc."

He also wrote of nozzles, "I have a bunch of them and they do wear out as you say. What seems to actually wear out or happen is the spring inside the nozzle that shuts the water off when you let go of the handle or trigger stops working. The spring gets weak or too much friction develops and it loses its ability to shut off the water correctly."

This tallies with what another reader e-mailed about nozzle manufacturers using zinc springs for their triggers. "Zinc rusts out very quickly," he wrote, "and most people simply buy another nozzle. It's programmed obsolescence. I replaced the zinc spring in my $2 pistol nozzle with a stainless steel spring and have been using the nozzle for about 7 years."

[Cindy]

Boy, if you haven't tried the Ultimate Hoze Nozzle by BonAire you should. It's the best (and I'm not a big fan of nozzles) watering device you will ever use. Even love it more than my thumb.

Fashioned after a fire hose, it's lightweight, super easy, never leaks. Don't buy the knockoffs though. Did that, not nearly as nice as the real deal
http://www.dirtdujour.com/item/gardening_20/

[Steve G]

I have been using 2 Dramm Revolvers (in manly colors) for 2+ years now. They did leak after a bit, but I was able to fix the leaky parts by disassembling it and fixing it with Teflon tape and purchasing a new o-ring. I lubricated the shut-off spring with a bit of silicone spray. So with a bit of maintenance and small investment of parts at the hardware store, they have been good investments.

[Xian]

I'll second the nomination of the BonAire "Ultimate Hoze Nozzle". Great nozzle for all-around use, and water shaping control. Five years later, and I've never had any leakage issues.

[Pat]

No matter what kind of nozzle you use:

When you've finished watering, turn off the tap immediately. If you merely release the nozzle's handle to shut the water off, pressure will build up inside the hose, which can burst it, resulting in massive waste of water, and possible flooding.

[JewelD]

Girly? Being a girl is bad?

"A personal favorite was the Dramm Revolver. It’s more comic book ray gun than pistol, has nine patterns and comes in pretty colors, but it’s blatantly girly. Men may prefer the Toro 8 Pattern Front Trigger."

What century are you living in, Emily?

Just goes to show, sexism is not restricted to men. Even women put women down to seem cool.

And in a gardening column ?! What was the point of sexism in a piece about gardening?

[Edmund]

One problem isn't addressed. I don't want my nozzle to shut off.

In chatsworth, because of the developments up the hill, water pressure at the spigot is around 130 lbs (that's about twice the recommended). That will blow most hoses, and I've had to shim my nozzle with washers, so that the gardeners don't turn off the hose with the pressure on!