What to Look For When Choosing a Watering Can | Platt Hill Nursery

We know the importance of watering as gardeners, but what about the watering can itself? Using the wrong type can turn this simple task into a chore. Fortunately, there are many designs out there. Once you understand them, you can purchase the best one for you and make watering a pleasant experience for you and your plants! 

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Watering Can Nozzles

The nozzle is what makes or breaks a watering can. It shapes how the water is delivered, but many people don’t realize that each nozzle has a specific purpose. Here are the different designs you’ll find:  

• Pour: Cans with a single stream of water are best suited for houseplants. The single spout lets you pour water around the base of the plant without sprinkling the leaves or watering your floor. A pour nozzle is not ideal for seeds or seedlings, as the stream can easily flood them or break their fragile stems.     
• Sprinkle: A sprinkle nozzle is best for watering seeds, seedlings, or vegetables out in the garden. It acts like a gentle shower that moistens the soil without damaging the plants. It’s also good for outdoor containers.  
• Dual Purpose: Some nozzles have a special switch called a rosette which allows you to switch between a single pour and a sprinkle as needed. Others have a sprinkle head that you can unscrew and remove, which turns the spout into a single stream. 

What Size of Watering Can Do I Need?

If you have small houseplants, a can with a small spout is better. It gives you the precision needed for a small pot. On the other hand, if you have a lot of containers on your deck, a big can may come in handy. With more carrying capacity, you won’t have to go back and forth from the faucet, and your watering will be faster. 

Rule of thumb: the best size of a watering can is one that matches the size of your plants. 

Leak-Free Watering Cans

If leaky nozzle heads are your pet peeve, opt for a watering can with one-piece construction. A single plastic or metal mold won’t have any seams that can leak. A can with a curved spout is also less likely to spill water as you carry it. In general, high-quality cans are more likely to remain leak-free. 

The Best Watering Can Handles

Carry and pour—that’s how you’ll be handling the can, so you need a handle for both. Cans with two handles serve both purposes, as do those with a single grip that wraps around the top and back. Watering cans that are missing either the top or back handle can be less comfortable to use and harder to aim. 

Is a Metal Watering Can Better than Plastic?

Both plastic and metal watering cans are equally good and useful, but they have a few slight differences.  

• Plastic cans are lightweight and will last for decades, especially if they’re high quality plastic. However, UV rays and general wear-and-tear will damage them over time. 
• Metal cans are more durable to bumps and scrapes and last for decades if they are galvanized or otherwise rust-resistant. 

The main difference between materials is in aesthetics and the comfort of the handle, both of which are more of a personal choice.   

If you’d like to try out watering cans yourself, find us at our garden centers in Bloomingdale and Carpentersville! 

I typically cover bedding and textiles for Wirecutter’s home decor team, but gardening has become a central part of my life since my family bought a woodsy homestead in the Pacific Northwest in . I have since worked with a local forester and the USDA to get our property registered as a farm and learned as much as possible about growing and raising things (including forest stewardship, native planting, invasive species, pests, and our soil). I also collect houseplants—I recently converted my office bathroom into a nursery for my neediest potted children.

I’m a member of the Master Gardener intern class for my county, and I wrote our guides to chicken coops and plant pots, and about my favorite outdoor containers. I grow a wide assortment of plants, indoors and out, with varying degrees of success: testy Calatheas in my home office, containers full of tulips on my patio, flowers around our property for pollinators, and veggies I’m constantly protecting from the local wildlife (and our feisty chickens).

For this guide:

• In I spoke with plant stylist Hilton Carter, author of Living Wild: How to Plant Style Your Home and Cultivate Happiness, and Josh Papworth, purchasing manager and consumer relations manager at Haws. Carter collects watering cans and has also designed limited-edition cans for Target, and Haws is an iconic English company that’s been making watering cans since the s.
• In I met with Justin Henderson, former garden director at PowellsWood Garden in Washington, and Greta Devan, a retired interior landscaper who now volunteers at PowellsWood Garden. In her 30-year career, Devan managed teams of landscapers for commercial spaces including atriums, shopping centers, hotels, and offices, and she was directly responsible for purchasing the tools they used, including the watering cans.
• Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of my editorial recommendations. Read more about our editorial standards.

Top pick

This little glass vessel is tidy to use and catches the light just so when sitting near a sunny window. It’s available in four colors, and it’s lovely for a few small pots.

It’s best for: Small pots and hanging pots that need a long spout to reach through deep foliage.

Why we love it: Modern Sprout’s Glass Watering Can has a long delicate spout and bubbly shape that makes it look chic, with a bit of a playful wink. The wide rim at the top makes filling it up in the sink mess-free—the water swishes around the rim and quickly finds its way down into the can. The can weighs almost nothing when it’s empty and is easy to control when full. Besides being functional it also looks gorgeous on display. The blush and amber version I tested looked stunning near my sunny window in the afternoon light. It comes in four cheery color choices.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Unlike our plastic or metal picks, glass can easily shatter. One of our testers—a 70-plus-year-old woman with limited hand strength—worried that when her hands were wet and slippery she’d drop and break it. She instead ended up liking how lightweight and steady it felt. But with glass, shattering is always a possibility.

Also, as of this writing, two colors are out of stock, but Modern Sprout told us they would be restocking this watering can in April . We’ll update this guide when they do.

Capacity: 4.25 cups (about 33 ounces)
Material: borosilicate glass
Colors: clear, teal, lilac/emerald, blush/amber

Top pick

Designed by Eero Aarnio for Alessi, this can is full of personality—one tester called it Miss High Drama—and it pours like a dream, too.

It’s best for: Big indoor pots that could use a good glug of water, and for brightening your whole entire day.

Why we love it: I bought the Alessi Diva Watering Can for myself in while researching for this guide, and it’s since become one of my favorite household objects. It was hard to get in the US at the time, making it impractical to test, but I loved it enough to pay overseas shipping for it. It’s now more consistently available stateside through Alessi and other shops, like this one and this one.

Created by acclaimed Finnish designer Eero Aarnio (who created the original bubble chair and ball chair), it’s as functional as it is delightful. The Diva pours beautiful big glugs into large pots, it reaches into dense foliage, and it’s controllable for smaller pots if you’re careful. It holds almost a half gallon of water, but the design of the handle still makes it one of the most comfortable watering cans we’ve tested. One of our testers, a 70-plus-year-old woman who typically prefers smaller watering cans, noted, “I love the handle on this. Love, love, love it. I can get a good grip on it, too.” She could hold the bottom with her spare hand to easily reach hanging plants as well.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

If you have smaller pots it can be a little splashy or drown delicate fronds. And it does occasionally sell out, but it comes back in stock—it’s been around since and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Capacity: 6.5 cups (52 ounces)
Material: plastic
Colors: white

Top pick

This combo can works better than we expected, with even mist from the spray bottle and a smooth pour from the spout.

It’s best for: All-around houseplant care, and for any plants that need misting.

Why we love it: I thought a watering can with a spray bottle built in seemed kind of gimmicky, but Time Concept’s Spray Bottle - Watering Pot actually works well. This industrial chic-looking spray bottle has a comfortable trigger, and it sprays a nice even mist. The long spout on the other end was easy to use on pretty much every plant I tried it on.

If you have a lot of plants that need misting, it saves some time and space by combining two tools into one (you can aim the spray gun away from the spout or face it in the same direction, making it even easier to multitask if you wanted to use both functions at the same time). It’s a perfectly good all-around watering can for houseplants that need a little extra spritz.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s technically made in 10 colors, but some of them are harder to find. It’s sold online by many different retailers, but everyone seems to call it something slightly different, which makes it challenging to search for if you want a specific color. Also, not every tester was sold on the aesthetics. One tester who loved using this can but was unconvinced by its style told us, “This is still my number one, because ugly doesn’t bother me.”

Capacity: 6.5 cups (52 ounces)
Material: plastic
Colors: olive green, blue, cream, light blue, orange, white, light green

Top pick

It holds a half gallon of water, it’s comfortable, and it’s colorful. The removable rose tip—which is less common on smaller watering cans—gives you more watering options.

It’s best for: All-purpose use around the house, with a removable rose tip that allows you to either pour or sprinkle.

Why we love it: The Qilebi Watering Can is a simple, inexpensive option that can handle most of your houseplants and maybe even a few pots on your balcony or deck. It holds a full half gallon of water, which makes it the largest of our indoor picks, so it will cover more plants between refills.

The long spout can reach the soil under big, bushy plants, and the removable rose tip creates a rain shower sprinkle that’s excellent for a small collection of outdoor pots. The top of the can is slightly sloped, and the fill hole is offset on the lower end, which keeps water from spilling out of the top. It satisfied one of our pickiest testers in —my mother. “This is nice, it gets a lot of water around,” she said.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The rose comes in two pieces, and if they aren’t snapped together correctly and tightened onto the can’s spout, the can will leak a lot. Water can also linger inside the rose tip so be careful when removing it (to avoid splashes). Testers sometimes found it harder to tell how much water was in this can when they looked in through the top.

Capacity: half gallon (64 ounces)
Material: plastic
Colors: white, black, pink, mint green, dark blue, gray, yellow

Top pick

This watering can’s extra-long spout is precise and steady, so hanging plants and other tricky fronds are easy to reach—but it’s not as great for big plants that need large glugs of water.

It’s best for: Hanging plants and houseplants with deep foliage—and for measuring plant food.

Why we love it: If you have hanging plants, plants with bushy leaves that hide the soil, or that one plant in your collection that’s always just out of reach, we like the Qilebi Long Spout Watering Can. It has an extra-long spout that’s easy to maneuver into tricky places and the subtle bend at the tip provides a slower pour with more control. It’s easy to fill, and the offset hole at the top kept water from sloshing out in testing, even when my daughter (age 9 at the time) waved it around.

My mom, an expert watering can tester, noted that the flattened, slightly grooved handle was more comfortable to hold than other cans in that year’s test batch. The clear body lets you easily see how much water is left in the can, and the measuring lines are helpful for adding plant food.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The removable spout is meant to save on storage space, but in reality it can make the can a little fiddly to use—the spout must be screwed on tightly, otherwise it spins around if you bump it. The Qilebi also tends to go out of stock seasonally. We’ve also seen it sold under different names, like this almost identical Brilliest version we tested in (which works just as well).

Capacity: about a quart (33 ounces)
Material: plastic, with a stainless steel spout
Colors: black, clear, green, orange, teal, blue

Top pick

The highest-scoring can in our houseplant testing is also the smallest and most expensive. But it’s well-made—by a 130-year-old British company—and a delight to use.

It’s best for: Succulents and small pots that overflow easily and need a slow, steady pour.

For more Wholesale Watering Cansinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

Why we love it: The Haws Fazeley Flow One Pint is our favorite if you have small pots and don’t mind refilling more often. It’s easy to fill in a sink, and it’s really comfortable to hold—we’ve recommended it for several years now, and it remains an all-time favorite among our testers. It only holds about a pint of water, but the curved spout slows the water flow, giving better aim, control, and precision for use on smaller plants, like succulents. My mom raved, “If I had a thriving little herb garden on my kitchen counter, this would be perfect.”

The Fazeley Flow One Pint is an heirloom-quality can from an old English company—you can keep a Haws can for decades because it works so well and looks so good as it ages—like this vintage copper version from the s.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

This is one of the priciest (and smallest) watering cans on our list, which we know isn’t practical for everyone. The Haws Langley Sprinkler is a same-size plastic version with a different spout, for a fraction of the price (I’ll be testing one for a future update). The Fazeley Flow Two Pint might be a better option if you still want a metal Haws can but need greater capacity (we also recommend the larger models for outdoor gardening).

Capacity: 1 pint (16 ounces)
Material: powder-coated steel or copper
Colors: moss green, hunter green, copper, galvanized steel (and other seasonal colors)

Top pick

This watering can has endured several seasons outside in all kinds of weather, and it was a favorite with testers. It’s comfortable to hold and carry through the garden, and it pours beautifully.

It’s best for: Outdoor gardening, when you want a bigger can with a wide water spray that can soak large areas, like flower beds.

Why we love it: Since , I’ve had various watering cans living outside full-time (and uncovered) in the Pacific Northwest to see how they’d survive. Through rain, summer sun, hail, and snow, the Dramm 7 Liter Watering Can has held up, and it remains our favorite outdoor watering can. It’s comfortable to hold, and the quality of its pour is excellent: With the removable rose tip it has a gentle stream that can thoroughly soak a plant without damaging its leaves or flowers, and without the rose it gives nice glugs of water to saturate the soil around a plant’s roots.

The 7-liter model holds nearly 2 gallons of water, and it’s easy to fill from a spigot or hose or in a big kitchen sink. (We recommend the smaller 5-liter and 2-liter sizes if you prefer something lighter). Former PowellsWood Garden director Justin Henderson and volunteer Greta Devan, who helped me with testing, were already big Dramm watering can fans—before retiring from her career as a commercial interior landscaper, Devan bought dozens of them for her crews to use and now insists on using them at PowellsWood, too (they use the large, 10-liter size, which is still made in Switzerland). They thought the 7-liter size was well-balanced and comfortable to carry around, and would best satisfy both pros and hobbyists for everyday use in a home garden; Devan said that it’s the size she owns herself.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The Dramm watering can tends to sell out every year in early spring, so buy it early. It’s sold by several gardening supply companies, including A.M. Leonard, Gemplers, Greenhouse Megastore, and Zoro. A Dramm representative told us they primarily sell to local independent stores, including Ace Hardware, True Value, and Do it Best stores, so if you can’t find the color or size you want online, check your local gardening supply store.

Some of our testers at Edmonds Floretum Garden Club found the 7-liter size too heavy to lift and pour, but they loved the 5-liter size, which has a longer spout for deep foliage.

Capacity: 7 liters (about 1.84 gallons); also available in 2-liter, 5-liter, and 10-liter
Material: plastic
Colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple

If you want a lightweight outdoor can: The Dramm 5 Liter Watering Can was the top-scoring can with our testers at Edmonds Floretum Garden Club, some of whom found our 7-liter Dramm pick too heavy. All of our testers appreciated its longer spout for getting through deep foliage to the base of a plant. It’s harder to find in stores, though, and nearly impossible to fill up in a kitchen sink because of the extra-long spout.

If you don’t want to buy a plastic can for your garden: The best large-capacity metal cans we tested were the Haws Warley Fall 2 Gallon, which costs more than three times as much as our pick from Dramm, and the Behrens 2-Gallon Hot Dipped Steel Watering Can, which has widely dispersed holes that don’t soak as effectively as Dramm watering cans. But they were both still impressive and very popular with testers, and they lasted a year outside with no damage. In we tested the smaller Fabien Capello Regadera #2 Watering Can, which holds a little under a gallon of water. Testers were delighted by the style, and the rainfall spout was smooth and easy to control, but it’s very pricey for the smaller size.

If you need a large-capacity indoor can: I personally bought a 2 Liter Dramm Watering Can, a smaller version of our outdoor pick, for my indoor seedlings while researching outdoor watering cans, and it was so good on those very delicate leaves that I threw it into the test pile. My mom loved it, and my daughter did, too—it’s also an excellent option for kids who are ready to level-up their gardening.

If you’re looking for a classic, gift-worthy can for houseplants: Most gardeners would love to get a Haws can as a gift (they come in so many sizes), but we think the Williams Sonoma Tall Copper Watering Can is also a lovely option. The Williams-Sonoma is expensive and a little fussy for low-key gardeners, but the hammered-copper look is classic, our testers loved using it, and over time our test can developed a patina like a charming antique.

If you’d like a gift with more whimsy: We think both our plastic Alessi and glass Modern Sprout picks would make excellent gifts, but so would the Areaware Tango Watering Can, a brightly colored metal option. The Tango is cheerful, modern, and fun, and our testers liked how it performed—but everyone still preferred the Haws Mini. Like the Haws, it’s small, but it could be delightful for a brand-new gardener with just a couple of houseplants or herbs.

If you want a cute can for kids: The Doittool Elephant Watering Can is our former pick for kids. It was our 9-year-old tester’s favorite because it was fun to use, and she covered a lot of plants with it. But it’s the type of no-name import that’s sold on Amazon, Walmart, and a few other places at different prices and under several brand names, including Sjenert (the name we originally tested it under). It’s become trickier to find, so we want to test some more reliable options for young gardeners.

I researched dozens of watering cans from home-improvement stores, garden suppliers, home-design companies, and big retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. I’ve tested 43 of them and established these criteria from my research and testing:

Availability: I prioritized watering cans that people can easily buy. Though some of our picks are only seasonally available for brief windows in spring and early summer, ideally you can keep finding these year after year.

Balance and comfort: I looked for vessels that felt balanced when full, without tipping too far forward or backward. Testers also wanted comfortable handles that didn’t dig into their hands or become slippery when wet.

Water flow: I looked for cans with a clean, controllable pour, and Hilton Carter told me to look for cans that could reach the foliage closest to the soil without splooshing water everywhere. He also suggested I look at cans with thinner spouts for smaller plants (less aggressive water pressure) and wider spouts for larger ones.

Size and capacity: I focused on cans that were a half gallon or less for indoor plants and up to two gallons for outdoor plants. I also looked for cans that took up minimal storage space.

Style: We believe that watering cans can (and should) look great. Carter told me when he designs a can he wants people to be able to leave them out on display. He considers shape, texture, and color, and we did too.

Rose tips (optional): A rose is a watering-can accessory that attaches to the end of the spout to create a sprinkler effect. They work best outside because they cover a wide surface area, which can get messy indoors. For cans that had a rose, I looked for removable tips rather than permanently attached versions, so you can choose between a gentle spray of water or a concentrated stream.

For our indoor watering-can testing, I measured how much water each can actually held and evaluated how it felt to fill, carry, and use. I watered many, many plants outside to gauge leaks, spills, and water flow, then I brought the best cans indoors and tried them on my houseplants.

I had three other testers try them, too: my husband (40-something), my mom (70-something), and my daughter (now a teen, but has been helping me test since age 9).

For our outdoor testing, I followed the same methods with the help of the same testers, but I also store them outside uncovered to test how they fare year-round. In September I brought the best performers to PowellsWood for Justin Henderson and Greta Devan to evaluate, and I also brought them to the Edmonds Floretum Garden Club, where a dozen members tried them out on their community garden and gave me their feedback.

If you own a plastic watering can, it requires little maintenance other than emptying it and rinsing it out once in a while. If algae or other funk grows inside the can, consider running it through the dishwasher if it’s dishwasher safe; otherwise, just hand-wash it with warm, soapy water. Also, despite our own testing methods, we recommend keeping your watering can out of the sun so it doesn’t warp and deteriorate.

Metal cans require the most maintenance. Plant stylist Hilton Carter told me you should never leave standing water in brass cans because they’ll rust. Copper cans are very prone to water spots and oxidation, which can cause a patina to form on them like a penny (or turn them green, like the Statue of Liberty). To maintain a copper can’s original color or to protect it from limescale (even if you like the patina it develops), you’ll need to periodically clean and polish it.

Haws’s Josh Papworth told me, “With our copper cans people are encouraged to try and give them a good polish maybe once every six months to a year.” He said this helps prevent the buildup of limescale, which will eventually attack the copper. “We love the shades of green that appear on an old copper can, but allowing too much limescale to build up can be an issue,” he said. Whereas the patina that forms on copper is actually a kind of protective coating that occurs when copper reacts with oxygen, limescale is the mineral deposit that builds up concurrently (usually from hard water), and it can weaken the metal.

“Another can killer is the cold,” Papworth told me. “If water is left in a can over winter, it will freeze and expand.” Very often this leads to a bulged or cracked base or split seams. If you use your metal watering can outside, make sure it’s completely emptied before freezing weather sets in. And avoid keeping indoor cans near drafty windows during the coldest months.

Indoor cans

The Bloem Aqua Rite Watering Can was a solid performer, with a curved spout that didn’t drench our test plants. But this can wasn’t comfortable to hold, and the plastic is a little flimsy. My mother, who had a nearly identical version of this can in the ’80s (hers was beige, I remember it well) said over time the seams on hers split open, causing leaks.

The Bloem Easy Pour Watering Can was a previous pick in our guide from to , but it was our testers’ least favorite can in testing. It’s big, awkward, and unstable.

The Cornucopia Green Dinosaur Watering Can was our second favorite for kids, but when our kid tester picked it up she spilled water on herself from the fill hole (which is placed too far back).

The HB Design Co. Indoor Watering Can is simple and affordable, but the open top made it harder for some testers to avoid spilling water.

The Imeea Tiny Watering Can holds just 11 ounces of water, which our testers found to be an impractically tiny amount. And because the handle is so small, it’s difficult to hold with more than two fingers.

The OXO Good Grips 4-Cup Angled Measuring Cup was terrible for watering plants precisely. We know some people skip the watering can and opt for whatever cup or jug they have on hand, but it got water everywhere. It made our testers realize the value in buying an actual watering can.

The Rejuvenation Watering Can was one of our favorites in —until we had to empty it. The handle is a tube of metal that runs through the inside of the can and out again to create the spout, and this made it almost impossible to get the last dregs of water out. The Homarden Plant Watering Can and Garrett Wade Copper & Brass Indoor Watering Can had the same problem.

When you pour the WhaleLife Indoor Watering Can, it produces a wide arch of water that’s hard to aim, and water gets everywhere.

Outdoor cans

We tested the Garden Glory Watering Can Crystal 8 L in for houseplants (too big) and again in for outdoor gardens (too awkward). The shape makes it hard to carry, and difficult to fill with anything but a hose.

We also tested the Novelty Manufacturing Co. Lucky Duck Watering Can in and again in , but it’s just too messy. It holds a gallon of water, but the fill hole is on the back end of the duck, so as our testers picked up a full can, water sloshed out on several of them.

In our outdoor testing, the Smith & Hawken Large Steel Iron Watering Can (which we think Target has since rebranded as this Threshold watering can) bleached in the sun to a very pale green. It also became creaky.

This article was edited by Daniela Gorny and Marguerite Preston.

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