Product review: Ray Padula The Pulse™ Brass Pulsating Sprinkler on "H" Base

The garden has been extremely dry recently - the rains have stopped, and if you dig down, the dirt is dusty dry all the way to the rock underneath. H'm. We have our automatic sprinklers going on on Friday nights, but when we're in the garden we like to give some plants a little extra water. So we were excited to get a sprinkler recently. Specifically, a Ray Padula The Pulse™ Brass Pulsating Sprinkler on "H" Base.

This looks like a quality product - it got great reviews online, and it's mostly made of brass (except the base) so we know it's going to last forever. It has a hose attachment on both sides of the plastic base so you could connect other sprinklers together I guess. Two in a row would really get the job done fast!

I tried it out in the garden recently. After I figured out how to adjust the distance of spray and the diameter of the pattern, I was able to leave it alone while I did other gardening tasks and it covered a really large area. We have ridiculous water pressure at the garden, being on city water, and with the water turned all the way up it sprayed too far. This wouldn't be a problem on a large lawn though.

It worked best at the top of the steps, angled downwards (propped up with a brick) so it sprinkled all the way from the Brugmansia to the Pittosporum on the other side. It does seem like this style of sprinkler would be best on lawns or other flat areas, but the great thing about it is that it waters gently, so there's no runoff. Runoff has been a problem on the slopes at the sides of the steps - some of the bulbs there have been uncovered - so this prevents that happening until the yarrows and other plants there get established.

The downside of the size of the arc is that it takes a while for the water to penetrate our dusty-dry dirt. This is something to switch on and forget about while you do other tasks, for sure. I was able to weed and compost the bamboo area, and reorganize the plastic pots while it sprinkled. I do love to multi-task!

If you are looking for a pulsating sprinkler, I'd recommend this one - it seems well-made and I expect it will last a very long time.