An evening ritual worth doing well

There is a particular kind of peace in walking the garden at dusk with a full can in your hand, tipping water onto a bed that has spent all day in the sun. It slows you down. It makes you look at things properly. And it is far more pleasant when the can in your hand is well made, balanced and not leaking down your trouser leg.

A watering can is one of the few pieces of kit you will pick up almost every day from May to September, yet it is also one of the cheapest things to get right. Spend somewhere between twenty and thirty-five pounds on the correct design and you can reasonably expect ten to fifteen years of use. Spend eight pounds on the wrong one and you will be replacing it every other season, usually on the hottest weekend of the year. The qualities that make a can last are not expensive ones. They come down to materials, geometry, and a small amount of winter care.

Thick galvanised steel beats thin plastic every time

Plastic cans are light and cheap, and the better ones, moulded in a single piece with no seams, can genuinely last several years. The trouble is sunlight. Leave a plastic can outdoors through a summer or two and the material goes brittle, the handle lugs crack, and one cold morning the whole thing shatters on the patio.

Galvanised steel is heavier when empty, but it earns its keep over a decade of use. Run your thumb along the rim and squeeze the side gently: if the metal flexes, it is too thin and will dent the first time you knock it against a wall. A properly made can should feel solid and faintly cold to the touch, with a seam that has been folded and sealed rather than spot-welded in two or three places.

Powder-coated steel is a reasonable middle ground, and the colours are lovely, but any chip in the coating becomes a rust point. Bare galvanised finish, or galvanised with a coat over the top, tends to age with more dignity. If you want a can to hand down, buy the metal one.

The rose is where cheap cans give themselves away

The rose is the perforated end piece that turns a torrent into a shower, and it is the part most likely to let a budget can down. A few things are worth checking before you buy:

• A removable rose with a proper screw thread, so you can swap between a fine spray for seedlings and an open spout for filling pots quickly. Push-on roses fall off mid-pour.
• A brass face plate rather than thin punched tin. Brass holds its shape, does not rust through, and the holes stay round instead of distorting into a ragged dribble.
• Holes small enough to be gentle but not so fine that they clog with limescale after a month. Somewhere around two millimetres is a good compromise for British water.
• A thread that feels positive when you turn it, not gritty or loose. This is the joint that will be taken apart hundreds of times.

Balance, handle and capacity

Balance matters more than capacity. A full can should hang from one hand with the spout tilted slightly upwards, so the water sits away from the opening. If it tips forward on its own, you will spend the whole summer with a wet shoe.

• 5 litres is the sweet spot for most gardens: heavy enough to be useful, light enough to carry along a border without stopping.
• 8 to 10 litres suits a greenhouse or a long run of containers, but choose one with a second handle at the back so you can carry it with two hands.
• 2 litres is the size you will actually reach for indoors, on windowsills, and for topping up a bird bath.

The spout should be long, gently curved and set low on the body, so you can reach the back of a border without leaning over the plants. Short, steeply angled spouts are the reason people give up and reach for the hosepipe. Check the handle opening too: it needs to be wide enough for a gloved hand, and thick enough that a full can does not dig into your fingers.

Storing it well through winter

Almost every watering can that fails early dies of frost, not of use. Water left inside expands as it freezes and splits seams, cracks plastic bodies and pushes the rose out of shape. The routine is simple and takes two minutes.

• Empty the can completely after every use, and leave it upside down to drain.
• Store it dry and frost-free from the first hard frost, in a shed, garage or porch. Hanging it on a hook keeps the base from sitting in damp.
• Never leave it standing full of water or rainwater through winter.
• Descale the rose once a year by soaking it in warm water with a little vinegar or citric acid, then rinsing well.
• Touch up any chips in a painted finish with a dab of metal paint before the rust takes hold.

Do those things and a modest, well-chosen can will outlast several fancier ones. It will also, quietly, make the evening round of the garden the best twenty minutes of your day.