A newbie gardener need to take care of an almost 60x40 lawn (with
somewhat crooked shape), and two 15x10 gardens in the front. At present
we cannot install an underground watering system etc, so a few basic
questions about hoses and sprinklers:

1. Sprinkler: Which type of sprinkler is best for each task? (The
garden one needs to clear 1'-3' high plants.)

2. Hoses: Most hoses I see are 5/8", but someone said 3/4" (which I can
mail-order) would be better. Is that true?

Which brands are best? (My local shops tend to carry Gilmour Flexogen
and Apex Never Kink. The Gilmour comes in green and "platinum" variety,
the latter a touch more expensive)

Does anyone make good affordable colorful hoses (yellow, orange etc)?
The only one I know of is Dramm but they are expensive and hard to
find.

3. Y-Adapter: I would like one with separate flow control for each
branch. Who makes the best one?

4. Quick connects: Metal or plastic/ And which brands? Last year I saw
quite a few of Gardena at my local shops, but this years the seem to be
gone. Instead one store has Claber(?), which look suspiciously similar,
although I am not sure if it means anything.