Mary Stella, I'm still puttering around and trying things for fun.
I like the sprayers because I can SEE them running and tell how much water they're putting out. And if I use 180 degree sprayers around the
edges of beds, I can hoe weeds without chopping dripline. Plus, there are many brands of sprayers and I have an excuse to experiment.
Those "down-sprayers" are nice - you can control exactly where they add water, and they need not get leaves wet. But I've only found one source (DripWorks =
http://www.dripworks.com/produ... ), so there's no excuse to fiddle and compare, which for me is a minus. (But I tend to grab those first when I want just some water in one specific spot).
I think the Antelco C-frame down-spray jets are what DripWorks re-sells, though Antelco advertises three flow rates(6, 7.5 or 9 GPH at 15 PSI):
http://www.antelco.com/usa/spr...
http://www.antelco.com/usa/pdf...
If you like the focused aspect of the down-spray sprayers, you might want to look at "Shrubblers" and Spectrum sprayers, though they throw a lot of GPH for their small radius.
Shrubblers
http://www.dripworks.com/produ... ("fingers" of water on low arcs)
Spectrum sprayers
http://www.dripworks.com/produ... (low distance, high volume spray for shrubs)
Bubblers:
http://www.dripworks.com/produ... (high volume, very low distance. )
BTW, if you like the "fingers" style of watering, "spraying" but no mist and very little "blow-away" water, Antelco has a series of cheap, tiny "sprayer caps" that reduce the misty spray to "fingers".
http://www.antelco.com/usa/spr...
http://www.antelco.com/usa/pdf...
I really like the Antelco idea that you buy the "cap" based on the spray pattern you want, then pick the base that has the oriface size that has the flow rate you want.
But I know the drippers are less wasteful than sprayers and prevent weeds by keeping all of the surface dry except for the one spot where the drip drops.
Unless you have naked sand, the water from a dripper spreads out a lot once it reaches the soil.
