A popular method of watering you lawn or garden is a rotating lawn sprinkler.  There are the type that move side-to-side in a rectangular pattern or that spin in a circle.

These can cover a lot of ground and don’t need you to stand there.  The downside is that you lose a lot of water to evaporation.  Some towns don’t allow these sprinklers due to their inefficient water usage.  Plus, if your garden isn’t a neat rectangle or circle, you may be wetting areas that you don’t want watered, or missing other areas that do need water.

Another more-efficient method is the soaker hose.  Normally you would set the soaker hoses in place before planting your garden so you just need to hook up a hose to the end.  The hoses can be covered with mulch so you won’t even see them.  These water slowly and gently without wetting the foliage.

The next options are automated sprinkler systems.  A commercial sprinkler system that sprays water has the same downsides as a lawn sprinkler.  It can be inefficient with water and can miss places or water places you don’t want watered.

The best advanced system is a drip irrigation system.  This consists of tubing with small holes that will either spray or drip directly on the plants or ground by the roots.  It’s very efficient.  Drip irrigation allows for injection of liquid fertilizer too.

Consider using a battery-operated hose timer for all sprinkler systems and soaker hoses and you’ll have more time to enjoy your yard.