Best 6 garden hose spray guns in 2026 – tested and reviewed by our experts

Watering can be an everyday task in summer, but to ensure you use only the water you need, and that it goes just where you want it, a spray gun attached to the end of your hose is an essential piece of kit.

With as many as nine different spray patterns, including a shower setting for watering borders, a mist for fragile plants, and a jet spray for cleaning or filling buckets, they're equally at home lightly misting seedlings as they are washing down a path.

A hose spray gun can make light work of the most common gardening watering tasks and turn the garden hose into one of the most important tools in your garden.

Need a hose? Discover which of the garden hoses we tested came out on top. Or, if a watering can is all you're after, we've chosen 10 different designs to suit your gardening needs. If you're after more power for some of your garden cleaning tasks, our experts have put the best pressure washers through their paces, so you can buy with confidence.

Best Buy hose spray guns at a glance:

• Best spray gun for features: Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun
• Best spray gun for sustainability 2024: Gardena EcoLine Watering Sprayer
• Best eco spray gun 2019: Hozelock Multi Spray Pro
• Best premium spray gun: Gardena Comfort Multi Spray
• Best mid-range spray gun: Draper 7 Pattern Aluminium Spray Gun
• Best budget spray gun: XHose 8 Speed Spray Nozzle

Jump to:

• Best hose spray guns
• The best of the rest
• How we tested

In every review, we award outstanding products our coveted Best Buy award. To see these and the others we recommend, browse our pick of the best hose spray guns, below.

Best hose spray guns

Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun

RRP: £23.99

Our rating: 4.5/5

Available from Amazon

Pros

• Comfortable and light to hold
• Thumb switch
• Nine spray patterns
• Brass connector

Cons

• The black handle gets hot in the sun

With a whopping nine patterns, the Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun is a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy for features. Our favourite of these patterns is the ‘angle’ pattern, which sprays water downwards at a 45° angle, making the gun much more comfortable to hold. Like the Draper 8 pattern gun, the shower function is powerful enough to reach the very back of flower beds, and it has a sliding thumb catch, which can be moved with one hand to vary the water flow. It also means you don’t have to hold down a button if you’re watering for any length of time, which makes it one of the most comfortable guns to hold and use. It has a high-quality brass connector too, but bear in mind that the black handle gets hot in the sun.

Buy Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun from Amazon and Ebay UK

Gardena EcoLine Watering Sprayer

RRP: £21.99

Our rating: 4.5/5

Available from Amazon

Pros

• Eco design made from recycled materials
• Frost and UV protection
• Lockable trigger
• Five-year warranty

Cons

• Only one spray option
• Small head

A BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy for sustainability, this gun is made using at least 65% recycled household waste for the plastic parts, and the metal parts consist of more than 45% recycled material, plus it comes in totally cardboard packaging printed with water-based ink, so it can safely go on your compost heap or in the recycling. It’s also both frost and UV-resistant, so it won’t degrade if it’s left out outside, and it’s durable and long-lasting, which also helps its sustainability credentials. It’s light and neatly designed, featuring an ergonomic handle, which means it’s comfortable to hold and use. It also has a lockable trigger and a roll lever at the back of the spray head, so you can adjust the flow whilst you’re watering. However, there’s no choice of sprays.

Unlike others, which offer the choice of sprays, like jet, mist and pulse, you just have the one and for the price - of over £20 we would have liked more. This is a reasonably expensive spray gun, and although it comes with a 5-year warranty, once registered, you’re really paying for the eco qualities of this gun. It performs well, but it’s limited, so if you’re after more spray options, this isn’t the gun for you.
But, if all you need is a gun to water pots and borders, and sustainability is important to you, then this is a great green option.

The Gardena EcoLine Basic Set is also available, which includes an adjustable jet nozzle as well as a tap connector, adapter, hose connector and water stop.

Buy Gardena EcoLine Watering Sprayer from Amazon and Original Organics

Hozelock Multi Spray Pro

RRP: £29.99

Our rating: 4.5 out of 5

Available from Amazon

Pros

• Very easy to use
• Feels robust and long-lasting
• Has a water-saving aerated flow and smooth, adjustable flow
• Comes with a three-year warranty

Cons

• It's expensive
• It starts to rub and is a little uncomfortable to use after a while

Awarded a BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy for best eco sprayer, this spray gun is sturdy and built to last. It comes with a water-saving aerated flow and the adjustable flow works well and efficiently. It's a well-designed and thought-out spray gun. The different spray patterns simply click into place along the dial, and it feels solid and secure in the hand.

Read the full review: Hozelock Multi Spray Pro review

Buy Hozelock Multi Spray from Amazon and Ebay

Gardena Comfort Multi Spray

RRP: £28.99

Our rating: 4.5 out of 5

Available from Amazon

Pros

• Comfortable and easy to use
• The trigger lock and adjustable flow can easily be used with one hand
• Has a gentle, water-saving bubble spray
• Comes with frost protection in case it's left outside through the winter
• Has a filter in the base of the handle that can be removed and cleaned

Cons

• High price to pay for a plastic spray gun

This BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy for the best premium spray gun is easy and smooth to use. It has a large spray head with a good range of sprays and comes with a long warranty. It has five spray patterns, including a soft spray, a fast jet, a bubble spray, a fine mist and a flat spray, and all perform well with a strong jet of water. Although other spray guns have more spray patterns, these are enough to cover most jobs in the garden, from filling up cans, watering fragile seedlings and irrigating borders and pots.

Read the full review: Gardena Comfort Multi Spray review

Buy Gardena Comfort Multi Spray from Amazon, Argos and Electrical World

Draper 7 Pattern Aluminium Spray Gun

RRP: £22.68

Our rating: 4.3 out of 5

Available from B&Q

Pros

• Comfortable and light to hold
• Has a durable brass connector
• Each spray has excellent pressure
• Comes with a lifetime warranty

Cons

• The trigger lock needs two hands to engage
• The adjustable flow is fiddly and slow to change

Solid and well-made with quality materials such as a brass connector, this easy-to-use spray gun has seven spray patterns, including fine mist, jet, shower, fan, cone, soaker and mist, which are adjusted by a simple dial that has the type of pattern written around the edge and clicks clearly into place with each twist. It feels comfortable and light in the hand with a trigger that's operated with the palm rather than the fingers and has a soft, textured rubber grip on the handle. However, the ring lock on the top of the handle that holds the trigger in place needs two hands to engage, and the adjustable flow behind it is fiddly and stiff to twist up and down. But with the choice of seven spray patterns and excellent pressure combined with quality materials, this is great value for money. We awarded it a BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy for the best mid-range spray gun.

Buy Draper 7 Pattern Aluminium Spray Gun from Amazon, B&Q and Power Tools Direct

XHose 8 Speed Spray Nozzle

RRP: £16.00

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Available from B&Q

Pros

• Simple, light and comfortable to hold
• Has 8 spray patterns
• Has good pressure

Cons

• Needs two hands to lock the trigger, which is engaged by a ring on the top
• Doesn’t feel very durable thanks to the light plastic finish
• No adjustable flow option

This BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Best Buy for best budget spray gun is light and comfortable. It's a simple spray gun with eight, easy-to-change patterns – shower, soaker, mist, angle, full, cone, flat and centre – so it covers all gardening and household needs, and there aren't any leaks. The trigger lock is a ring on the top of the handle and needs two hands to flick into place, which is not ideal, and the adjustable flow is a fiddly little switch that takes ages to wind up or down, making it fairly ineffectual. For general spraying and watering though, this is an easy-to-use spray gun for less than a tenner. It comes with a one-year warranty.

Read the full review: XHose 8 Speed Spray Nozzle review

Buy XHose 8 Speed Spray Nozzle from B&Q and TradePoint

The best of the rest

Although some models didn’t quite achieve a BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Best Buy award, they still have great features that make them worth recommending. Browse our pick of the best of the rest on test.

Flopro Softflo Advanced Gun

RRP: £19.99

Our rating: 4/5

Available from Amazon

Pros

• Lightweight
• Mixes air and water for extra-soft, water-saving flow
• Useful hook for hanging

Cons

• Handle rubs on hands uncomfortably
• Awkward to reach the flow lever with smaller hands
• Dribbles when using some spray patterns

The Flopro Softflo Advanced Gun has four functions –a container-watering shower, gentle enough for delicate plants, a car-washing setting, ideal for watering borders, a softer, aerated bubble-flow and a jet for filling watering cans, and even cleaning. The jet is very strong, so while it can’t match a pressure washer, it gets some dirt up off paving slabs. The best feature is the bubble flow, which mixes air and water so it's better for the environment, reduces your water bill and is softer on plants. We love the roll-lever thumb switch, too, which allows you to further control the amount of water use. This spray gun is lightweight, but the ridges on the handle rub on hands uncomfortably, and although the hook is useful, it gets in the way when you’re watering. We also found it inconvenient that the functions are labelled with unclear diagrams rather than words, and it drips, so it wastes water. Other guns, like the Wilko 8 pattern and Spear and Jackson 9 pattern, also have more functions. It comes with a one-year warranty.

Buy the Flopro Softflo Advanced Gun from Available from Amazon, B&Q and Marshalls Garden

Hozelock Multi Spray Soft Touch

RRP: £18.99

Our rating: 4/5

Available from Tool Station

Pros

• Lockable trigger
• Five spray patterns
• Adjustable-flow trigger
• Soft-touch grip

Cons

• Dribbles whilst using
• Made from plastic

This spray gun is ideal if you have mobility issues, thanks to a soft-touch grip and lockable trigger, which make it easy to squeeze and comfortable if you’re watering a large area. However, it’s made entirely from plastic and feels a bit flimsy compared to the more robust Wilko 8 Pattern and Flopro Softflo Advanced Gun, which are also plastic. We like the simplicity of the roll-lever flow control, which you can easily reach with your thumb while using the spray gun, and it features five spray patterns. However, it did dribble on test, but it comes with a one-year warranty should it need to be replaced.

Buy the Hozelock Multi Spray Soft Touch from Amazon, Argos and Tool Station

Draper 8 Pattern Spray Gun

RRP: £20.85

Our rating: 3.75/5

Available from Ebay

Pros

• Eight spray patterns
• Brass connector
• Low RRP

Cons

• Stiff to move between different spray patterns
• Heavy
• The black handle gets hot in the sun

This gun offers eight different spray patterns, from gentle mist to jet. The best of these sprays is the mist, which makes tiny droplets that are perfect for gently watering cuttings and seedlings and keeping tropical plants humid. We also love the shower pattern, which, like the Spear & Jackson Kew Gardens Collection Multi Function Spray Gun, is powerful enough to reach the back of flower beds. It features a high-quality brass connector, which feels smooth to connect, and the thumb switch works well. It means this gun can be used with one hand so you can choose exactly how strong you want the flow. It’s also great value with a relatively low RRP of £11.50. It was initially stiff to move between the different spray patterns, but this eased up with use, and while the ergonomic grip is a nice idea, it can be tricky to adjust your grip if needed. The brass connector means it’s quite heavy, and the black handle gets hot in the sun.

Buy Draper 8 Pattern Spray Gun from Amazon, Ebay and Power Tools Direct

How does a hose spray gun work?

Unlike a more traditional twist nozzle, a spray gun has a variety of spray patterns for different tasks. Once you’ve picked your pattern, a spray gun works as its name implies - you squeeze the trigger on the handle of the ‘gun’ to control the distance and intensity of the jet of water. To choose the right gun for you, think about is what you need your spray gun for. If you’ll just be watering plants, look for a gun with a few different, gentle spray patterns, so you don’t damage leaves and stems. For a more general-purpose hose, look for as many settings as possible, so you can clean your car as well as tend to plants.

Will I need any connectors?

Hose pipe connectors are the plastic or brass clips at the top of a hose pipe. They’re universal, and with very rare exceptions, most hose guns will fit your hose. If you don’t have a universal connector or need a new one, we recommend a brass connector, as these tend to last longest.

Top tips for watering your plants

Get the most from your spray gun by following our tips -

• If you have lots of watering to do, a hose will save you time and effort. Just make sure you only use the water you need, and that it goes where it’s needed
• Use a spray gun to help you target where the water will go, make sure it doesn’t leak or drip, and a controllable flow option will let you adjust the volume of water. Guns that have aerated spray control will also use less water
• Water plants in the cool evening or early in the morning during the warmer months, rather than during the day when most of the water could evaporate before getting to the plant roots
• Water at the base of plants, so it can soak down to the roots. When it’s hot, give each plant a good soak every 2-3 days, rather than a quick water each day

How we tested hose spray guns

The BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Reviews team tested a range of different hose spray guns, with a variety of sprays. Each gun was unpacked, attached to a hose and then used to water different plants in a number of locations, including seedlings, plants in pots and containers, as well as borders. They were assessed according to the following criteria, with equal marks attributed to each:

• Ease of use. Looked at how comfortable the gun was to hold, the position of the trigger lock and adjustable flow and how easy it was to switch between sprays
• Performance. Examined the number of spray patterns and the difference between the jets. We also considered the power and reach of the spray, the consistency of the water flow and whether there were any leaks, trickles or drips
• Eco considerations. Assessed the hose spray gun according to any eco plus points, including how leak-proof it was, could you control the water pressure, did it have an aerated flow, was it made from any recycled materials, and would it last
• Value for money. Considered all of the above, as well as the quality of the design and materials, the length of warranty and the price

For more information on our testing process, see How we review

Meet our testing panel

Oliver Parsons, Strategic Projects Editor
Oliver is a gardener and magazine journalist of 20 years’ experience. He trained as a professional horticulturalist at RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Chelmsford and has also worked for Gardening Which?, as a freelance gardener and with the gardening team at Down House in Kent. He is now Strategic Projects Editor at BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine and GardenersWorld.com, heading up our reviews desk, Apple News output and weekly newsletter.

Kay Maguire, Magazines Editor
Kay trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and has been writing and making films about gardening ever since. She has written for websites and magazines, including The Garden and Amateur Gardening, was Horticultural Editor on BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine for five years, and has also written several books on a range of gardening topics from growing house plants to making the most of a small space. After several years as Reviews Editor, building up our reviews section into a leading resource for UK gardeners, she has now become Magazines Editor for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, responsible for all print output.

Harry Duncton, freelance powered tools tester
Harry has a wealth of experience, from being a language teacher to a tree surgeon, and has built this into a career writing about all things DIY and gardening. A passionate believer in self-reliance, his aim is to inspire others to give it a go themselves and not worry about making a few mistakes along the way. A regular contributor to popular DIY blogs and a recent addition to the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, he loves tracking down the best new tools and writing about them.

Sue Fisher, freelance garden writer
Sue’s extensive horticultural career spans over 40 years, starting with a decade in the garden centre and nursery industry before developing into an accomplished gardening writer, designer and speaker. Sue writes regularly for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, GardenersWorld.com, and Garden Answers magazine. She has written 10 books on subjects including container gardening, plants for small gardens and designing with colour, and she has co-authored other books with some of the biggest names in gardening.

Emma Crawforth, Horticulture Editor
Emma holds the Kew Diploma in Horticulture and has been working in horticulture for 18 years, including roles in public gardens, a plant nursery supplying plants for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and a training college for young horticulturists. She looks after an ornamental, fruit and veg garden at home and regularly undertakes trips to see plants growing in their natural habitats. She is the author of the Kew Publications book, Things to Do with Plants.

This review was last updated in January 2026. We apologise if anything has changed in price or availability.