How to Use a Garden Sprayer

You dream about having the most beautiful lawn on the block. Luscious, thick grass and gorgeous flower beds, with nary a weed in sight. But how do you make it happen?

Learning how to use a garden sprayer; that’s how. We have everything you need to know about hose-end sprayers, backpack sprayers, and hand sprayers, from what to use them for to why they will save you time, energy, and money as you cultivate the best yard on the block.

What is a Garden Sprayer?

Gardener prepares sprayers for lawn

A garden sprayer is a tool that allows you to spray and dust areas of your lawn and garden with water, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides—anything you might need to use to treat your outdoor spaces. They can be useful for many outside tasks, including seasonal lawn care responsibilities, watering or fertilizing your lawn, feeding your plants, or cleaning your patio.

What to Consider When Buying a Sprayer

Every project benefits from using the right set of tools. Make it easier to apply lawn and garden products with the garden sprayer that best fits your needs.  

3 Considerations when Choosing Your Garden Sprayer: 

  1. Understand how each sprayer works—each sprayer will benefit a different type of project.
  2. Anticipate the size and scope of your project—the larger the area or amount of product needed will determine the best sprayer to use.
  3. Know your area’s daily weather conditions—pay attention to temperature, wind speed, and precipitation before committing to a spraying project.

Our Favorite Types of Garden Sprayers

But just like there are many uses for sprayers, many different types of lawn and garden sprayers can be used for different outdoor tasks. Three of our favorites include:

  1. Hand sprayers
  2. Hose-end sprayers
  3. Backpack sprayers

What is a Hand Sprayer?

Chapin Multi-Purpose Handheld Compression Sprayer in 48 OZ

A hand sprayer is a portable tank with an attached wand or nozzle that compresses liquid into a fine spray. The sprayer can be held in one hand while the wand (if it has one) is in the other.

When Should You Use a Hand Sprayer?

You should use a hand sprayer when you need to easily spread applications like liquid fertilizers or soil and mineral amendments to smaller gardens and lawn spaces. Our hand sprayer increases your efficiency and, thanks to the in-tank filter that prevents clogging, allows you to consistently apply your product. 

How to Use a Hand Sprayer

The best part about using a hand sprayer is its ease—it fits in one hand. Ours features an adjustable spray nozzle that transitions from a fine mist to a thick stream with an easy twist, an ergonomic handle to prevent hand and wrist fatigue, and an anti-clog filter to ensure continuous spraying. 

Simply fill the 1.5-inch mouth with your product and let the compression pump take over. It sprays between 40 and 60 PSI with only 15 to 25 strokes, reaching 25 feet vertically and 23 feet horizontally.

What are the Disadvantages of Using a Hand Sprayer?

Hand sprayers are great tools when feeding flowers, watering plants, killing weeds, misting beehives, and cleaning around your home and garden. However, you should reconsider using a hand sprayer if you have a lot of territory to cover. Fertilizing a large lawn, for example, would be easier with a different type of sprayer.

What is a Hose-End Sprayer?

All Purpose Hose End Sprayer 16 Oz

A hose-end sprayer attaches to the end of a garden hose and uses the water from the hose to mix and apply products as it moves through. The reusable bottle has a universal hose-end attachment to connect to any water hose. Using this method allows you the ability to mix and distribute many different lawn and garden solutions.

When to Use a Hose-End Sprayer

With a hose-end sprayer, it’s so easy to apply garden or grass applications over a large area. With a 100-gallon application capacity and built-in anti-siphon feature, our sprayer makes it easy to tackle your garden spraying needs. 

Hose-End Sprayers are Great For:

  • Liquid fertilizer
  • Herbicides
  • Fungicides
  • Pesticides

When choosing your hose-end sprayers, consider if they can be customized for different product-to-water ratios. Also, confirm whether it automatically mixes liquid concentrate with water to ensure a consistent ratio every time. With multiple spray patterns, you can mist your concoction using the fan nozzle or select a continuous spray for more direct application. 

How to Use a Hose-End Sprayer

Simply connect your water hose to our hose-end sprayer, hold the ergonomic handle, pull the trigger, and: Voila! Apply your lawn care products with ease.

What are the Disadvantages of Using a Hose-End Sprayer?

Hose-end sprayers are great for applying products over a large area where precision isn’t as key—think fertilizing your lawn, for example. However, some have found it hard to mix product concentrations while simultaneously using a hose-end sprayer, so in instances where precision is necessary, it might be best to use another type of sprayer.

What is a Backpack Sprayer?

Flow Zone Typhoon Backpack Sprayer

Using a backpack sprayer offers a helpful way to cover a lot of ground with a product quickly (and literally). They offer consistent coverage and can be especially useful for tackling hard-to-reach areas. By providing a battery-charged sprayer with adjustable PSI, our backpack sprayer is the one you’ll gravitate to for every large outdoor project.

When to Use a Backpack Sprayer

Backpack sprayers are especially great for applying products like organic garden fertilizers or lawn weed killers to a large yet concentrated area. They make a lot of sense when you don’t have a water hose hookup nearby. At its highest output, our sprayer can spray over 76 gallons of product at a distance of 30 feet—making it the most powerful of the three sprayers in our arsenal.

How to Use a Backpack Sprayer

Either hand-carry our backpack sprayer using the ergonomic handle to monitor the front-facing battery lights or adjust our ultra-thick backpack straps to wear the padded foam back comfortably—however it’s most comfortable for you. Our three quick-connect nozzle attachments will help you adjust accurately to accomplish the project at hand.

What are the Disadvantages of Using a Backpack Sprayer?

While a backpack sprayer is great for tackling huge projects, like applying weed killer at once to your entire lawn, it’s not the best option for gently applying lawn and garden products. For delicate projects, choose another sprayer.

How to Safely Use a Garden Sprayer

Chapin All Purpose Professional Hose End Sprayer in 32 Ounce

Just like any other tool, there are important safety precautions to consider when using a lawn and garden sprayer. They include:

  • Wear personal protective equipment—Cover your eyes with safety goggles or glasses, protect your hands with work gloves, and wear long sleeves and pants to shield your skin from exposure. Bathe or shower when you’re finished.
  • Avoid inappropriate contact with the sprayer—Don’t spray people, pets, electrical outlets, or ignitable objects. While all of our products are organic, still be very cautious when spraying and seek immediate medical care if needed.
  • Maintain the equipment—Follow the proper care instructions for each sprayer to ensure excellent use and a long shelf life.

Lawn and garden sprayers can help you make quick work of applying organic fertilizers, amendments, pesticides, weed killers, or even just water to your green spaces. Whether you’re better off with a hand sprayer or hose-end sprayer for quick jobs in your backyard or a backpack sprayer for your large garden plot, you’ll appreciate the ease and speed at which you can tackle your projects with a sprayer.


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