Saturday, December 29, 2012

Steps to Choosing the Right Garden Hose

Whether you have a baronial estate or a small patio garden, your garden hose is an essential piece of outdoor equipment. In fact, even if you don’t have a garden or lawn, you’ll still want a garden hose for washing your car, hosing down your house or washing down backyard toys and equipment. Choosing the right garden hose for your needs can make your gardening and outdoor tasks easier and more efficient. Decide what you’ll use your hose for, then purchase the garden hose that best fits your needs. These tips can help you make the best choice for your watering and outdoor maintenance needs.
Decide how long you want your hose to be. You can purchase garden hoses in a wide variety of standard lengths, from 10 feet to more than 100 feet. Unless you have to routinely reach areas of your property that are more than 50 feet from the outdoor spigot, you’ll probably find that a 50-foot garden hose more than meets your needs. If your garden is right by the faucet, a 25-foot length will be more than sufficient. If you’re gardening in a small space, such as on your patio, consider a coil garden hose, which is designed to give you the length your need without taking up a lot of precious room.
Choose the right hose diameter. Just as there are standard lengths for garden hoses, there are also standard garden hose diameters. The two most commonly bought sizes are 1/2 inch garden hose, which will deliver about 9 gallons of water per minute, and 3/4 inch garden hose, which will deliver twice that amount of water. If your water pressure is low, consider choosing a higher diameter garden hose which will lose less water pressure over distance than smaller diameter hoses.
Keep in mind that water pressure will also be affected by the length of the hose you choose. The further the water has to travel between the spigot and the business end of your garden hose the lower the water pressure will be. Choose the shortest length of hose that will suit your needs to maintain the highest water pressure possible.
Pick a garden hose with the best material for your climate. Most garden hoses are made of vinyl or rubber, generally reinforced with nylon, cloth or other materials. Rubber hoses are more durable, weight more than vinyl garden hoses and are generally more expensive than vinyl hoses. Choose garden hose made of rubber if you live in an extreme climate and will be using the hose in very cold or very hot weather.
If you live in a mild climate and will not be using your garden hose for more than light watering duties, a vinyl garden hose may be sufficient for your needs. Be aware that many garden hoses are treated with chemicals or have phthalates or BPA in the vinyl with which they are made. If you will be watering edible plants, drinking water from the garden hose or using the garden hose to water livestock or other animals, choose a drinking safe garden hose to be on the safe side.
Invest in a garden hose reel to protect your hose from damage when it’s not in use.
Choosing the right garden hose can greatly increase its life and make your gardening and household maintenance chores much easier. If you’re still not sure which hose is the best one for your use, talk to the manager at your garden supply store for more advice.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

How Does a Heated Garden Hose Work?

If you have regular need for a garden hose outdoors in below-freezing temperatures, you may be doing a lot more work than you have to do. Letting water freeze inside your garden hose can weaken and crack the materials, and make it impossible to use. Unless you have a heated garden hose, you have to remove the hose from the spigot, drain it completely and bring it inside to keep it warm every single time you use it. Whether you use a garden hose for getting water to animals during the winter, grooming a backyard ice rink or providing water for your hot tub, greenhouse or Jacuzzi, a heated garden hose can make your winter life much easier.
What Is a Heated Garden Hose?
A heated hose is a garden hose fitted with an electric heater to keep it warm when the temperature drops below freezing. Typically, the hose’s female connector end is fitted with an insulated cuff that plugs into a GCFI-protected outdoor extension cord. The highest-quality heated garden hoses are thermostatically controlled – that is, the heater turns on when the temperature drops below a certain temperature and turns off when the ambient air warms above that temperature.
How a Heated Garden Hose Works
The better garden hoses are heated along their full length by electrical wires that are molded into the PVC vinyl of which the hose is made. When the power is on, electrical power runs through the wires and heats the hose, keeping the water flowing inside it from freezing.
Isn’t That Dangerous?
Heated garden hoses are specially constructed to prevent the water from coming into contact with the electricity. Look for heated hoses that meet NSF-61 safety standards for electrical devices to make sure that your garden hose is as safe as possible.
How Much Power Does a Heated Garden Hose Use?
While the precise measurement varies from one manufacturer to the next, a 25-foot 1/2 inch garden hose will draw about 200 watts of power. A 50-foot hose will draw about 400 watts of power. For comparison purposes, your refrigerator draws about 1,000 watts.
Not all heated garden hoses are created equal. If you need to deliver water outdoors in freezing temperatures, shop around for a high-quality heated garden hose to handle your needs. The very best brands are manufactured in the United States and are 100 percent drinking water safe garden hoses that can be used for anything from providing water for livestock to providing water for your RV during the winter. Don’t put up with frozen hoses all winter long. Get a garden hose that keeps your water flowing when all heck has frozen over.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Garden Hose Trivia Quiz

When you work for a company that sells garden hose, you learn a lot of interesting little tidbits about garden hose history, construction, materials and other garden hose trivia. You may think you know your garden hoses, but how well will you do in this little garden hose trivia quiz?
What Color Is the Most Common Garden Hose Color?
Most garden hoses are either green or black, but they may come in just about any color. One exception is a drinking safe garden hose typically used to fill the potable water tank in RVs or boats. They’re generally white. One of the newest types of garden hose, the coil garden hose, comes in a number of different colors, including blue, red and green.
What Is the Most Common Diameter for Garden Hoses?
You can get a garden hose in diameters ranging from 1/2 inch garden hose to 1 inch water hose, but the most common diameter for household use is a 5/8 inch garden hose.
What Size Garden Hose Delivers Twice as Much Water as a 1/2 Inch Garden Hose?
If you guessed that a 1 inch water hose delivers twice the volume of water as a 1/2 inch garden hose, you’d be wrong. In fact, a 3/4 inch garden hose delivers twice the volume of water as a 1/2 inch hose.
Which Is Better – a 100-foot Garden Hose or Two 50-Foot Garden Hoses?
It depends. If you have to reach a garden between 50 and 100 feet away from your house, the 100-foot garden hose makes sense. If you typically only need a 50-foot hose but occasionally need one that’s longer, you’re actually better off getting a second hose and connecting the two. Here’s why. Water loses pressure as it goes through a hose or pipe. The further the water has to travel, the more pressure it loses. It’s impractical to use a 100-foot garden hose to water garden that’s less than 50 feet from the spigot – and you’ll end up with a tangled, kinked hose more often than not.
What’s the Thread Gauge Garden Hose Fittings?
The standard for US garden hoses is known as Garden Hose Thread, or GHT. It has an outer diameter of 1 1/16 inches, 1.0625 inches (27.0 mm) and a pitch of 11.5 TPI. US garden hose standards are not compatible with the standard used in most of the rest of the world, BSP.
Then again, if you ask for a garden hose in the UK, the shopkeep probably won’t know what you’re looking for. One last bit of garden hose trivia: in the UK, the common garden hose goes by the name hosepipe.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Neat Tricks Your Garden Hose Can Do

If you only use your garden hose to water your plants, you’re missing out on some of the neat tricks it can do. Here’s a short collection of ways you can use your garden hose to do more than water your garden or wash your car.
Siphon Your Pool
A garden hose makes a great makeshift siphon hose if you need to empty water out of a pool or large tub. Use a 1/2 inch garden hose or 5/8 inch garden hose. Drop one end into the pool. Hang the other end over the pool making sure that the other end is lower than the end in the pool. Suck on the hose to start water moving through it. Once the flow of water is established, gravity will do the rest.
Tip: Use a drinking safe garden hose to avoid any issues with lead or chemicals in the inner lining of the hose.
Unclog a Drain
Got a slow-draining tub or sink? You can unclog it with a garden hose. Just hook your hose up to the outdoor spigot and drag it through the house to the clogged drain. Insert the end of the hose into the drain. Wrap a dishcloth around it to prevent water from backing up into the sink or tub. Have a helper turn on the water outside while you keep watch. Within a minute or two, you should hear water flowing freely through the drain.
Hang Your Garden Hose
Contact with the ground will seriously reduce the lifespan of your garden hose. Hang a garden hose reel on the wall near your spigot to make it convenient to hang up your hose after you use it. As a bonus, the act of coiling your hose up will drain it, reducing the damage done by standing water and preventing standing water from picking up lead and other chemicals over time.
Two Garden Hoses Are Better Than One
If you occasionally need to reach your driveway with a garden hose, but your garden is so much closer, don’t invest in a longer hose. Instead, buy a second hose. A longer hose reduces the water pressure available at the business end – something you probably don’t want when you water your garden every day or every other day. It’s a simple matter to couple two shorter garden hoses together when you need the extra length. That way, you get all the water pressure and power you need for your regular chores and still have those extra feet when you need them.
Buy the Right Garden Hose
There are many different kinds and styles of garden hoses on the market, each of them best for a particular use. Instead of buying a cheap, generic garden hose, figure out how you’ll use it most often and choose the best hose for the job. A one inch water hose is ideal for filling pools and pressure washing, for example, and a coil garden hose is perfect for watering chores in enclosed spaces. You can even buy a heated garden hose if you need to use a hose outdoors when the temperature falls below freezing. You’re always better off choosing the best garden hose you can afford. It will last longer and cost you less in the long run.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Choosing a Garden Hose for Your Winter Needs

Winter may be here, but that doesn’t mean you no longer have a need for your garden hose. There are many reasons you may need to use outdoor water during the colder months, from watering animals to icing down a home-built skating rink. Choosing the right winter garden hose – and caring for it properly – can make your winter chores much quicker and easier to accomplish.
Heated Garden Hose
The most advantageous choice for an outdoor garden hose in the winter is a heated garden hose There are many types, styles and brands of heated garden hoses from which to choose. The best options for heated garden hoses are those that heat the entire length of the hose. The more common – and less expensive – heat the first several inches of the garden hose nearest the spigot. The heat keeps ice dams from forming inside the hose.
Caring for a Heated Garden Hose – Or Any Other Garden Hose – in Winter
If you’re planning to use a garden hose throughout the year, it’s a good plan to purchase one with a wider diameter than you would otherwise. A ¾ inch garden hose is less likely to freeze solid than a ½ inch garden hose. Whatever diameter of hose you choose, there are a few things you can do to help your garden hose make it through the winter unscathed.
Drain Your Hose Fully After Each Use
Leftover water will freeze at winter temperatures, and the ice can damage the structure of the hose tubing. After you’re done with your watering chores, roll the hose onto a garden hose reel and make sure that all of the water is drained from its length.
Store the Garden Hose in a Warm Place
The optimal treatment for your garden hose is to bring it indoors – or at least into a warmer storage shed, garage or basement – when you’re done using it for the day. Obviously, this won’t work if you require your hose to be in use around the clock. In that case, a heated garden hose is your best option of all.
Drinking Safe Garden Hose
If you’ll be using your garden hose to supply potable water for any reason, check the label to find out if it’s rated safe for drinking water. Many garden hoses are treated with chemicals to help protect the interior of the tubing. Unfortunately, one of the ingredients of the protective coating is often lead. In some states, any hose that contains lead must be labeled as unsafe for drinking water, while in other states, garden hoses that meet or exceed safe drinking water standards will be labeled as a drinking safe garden hose.
Taking care of your garden hose during the winter will help ensure its long life of service. Don’t skimp on protecting it from the elements and it will always be there when you need it most.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Winterize Your Garden Hose and Other Tips to Ready Your Garden for Winter

In the Northeast, the first frost has already bitten some areas, while temps in others are dipping into the low 40s on most nights. If you haven’t winterized your garden hose and prepared your garden for the winter, now is the time to do it. These tips can help you put together a checklist of chores to preserve your gardening tools, store your garden hose and prepare your garden to winter over in peace.
Clean Up the Garden
Pull up all annual flowers, vegetables and tender herbs and dispose of them properly. Don’t leave dead stalks standing in the garden. They provide perfect cover for insect larvae and other microbes that can cause diseases and harm next year’s crop.
Trim back perennials or cut them back to ground level and compost the tops. Save the seed heads for next year if you want them.
Mow the lawn and do routine maintenance on your lawn mower. Use your garden hose to wash the undercarriage clean so that the grass clippings and dirt don’t cause rust or corrosion.
Winterize Plants
If there are tender plants that you intend to leave outdoors for the winter, protect them with a cold frame or with a glass cloche. You can build your own cold frame with an old window and some two-by-fours. Just stack the two-by-fours or bricks around the plants and lay the window frame over the top.
Wrap sturdier plants in burlap to protect the tender branches from heavy snow and ice.
Winterize Your Garden Hose and Equipment
On a warm day, clean the outside and inside of terra cotta, clay and concrete ornaments, bird baths, pools and baths. Use your garden hose to wash them clean and place them in the sun to dry thoroughly.
Drain your garden hose by stretching it out to full length with one end pointed downhill. If you don’t have a sloping area on which to drain it, stretch your hose to full length on the ground. Pick up one end and put it over your shoulder. Walk the full length of the hose, picking it up and threading it over your shoulder to push the water in it toward the far end. Repeat at least once to make sure that you’ve fully drained the garden hose. Coil it carefully and wind it onto a garden hose reel to store indoors.
If you’ll need a hose for watering chores during the winter, consider investing in a heated garden hose. A heated garden hose has an electric warmer at the end that prevents water from freezing and plugging it up.
Before you put your garden hose away for the winter, examine its full length for signs of wear, cracking or decay. The end of the season is the ideal time to replace a worn garden hose with a new one. Most gardening stores and home improvement stores will have all types of hoses on sale. If you’ve been considering a replacement or upgrade to your current garden hose, this is a great time to get a good bargain on a ½ inch garden hose, a ¾ inch garden hose, a drinking safe garden hose or a coil garden hose. Take advantage of the end of season sales to stock up on gardening equipment and a new garden hose for the spring.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Is Your Garden Hose Dangerous to Your Health?

How often do you grab a sip of water from your garden hose when you’re out gardening? If you’re like most gardeners, you’ve probably done it fairly often. And if you have kids, you can bet that they’re drinking from the garden hose, too. Would it scare you to find out that the water from your garden hose could be toxic? Scary information, and, sadly, true.
In May, the Ecology Center, an Ann Arbor based research center, tested the water from 90 garden hoses that were currently on the market. Their results were shocking, especially in light of the safety standards for drinking water and Consumer Protection Agency standards for lead in products that will be used by children. Among other things, the Ecology Center found that water sampled from some of the garden hoses contained unacceptably high levels of lead, phthalates and BPA and DEP, a hormone disruptor that can cause numerous problems for young children. Specifically, the water from one light duty 1/2 inch garden hose contained 928ppm for lead – nearly 20 times the allowable amount in drinking water. It also contained BPA that was more than 20 times the acceptable amount in drinking water and DEHP in levels 4 times the federal standard for drinking water.
Meanwhile, in 2011, Consumer Reports did similar tests with 16 new hoses, all available nationally. They found that the hoses that were labeled as drinking water safe garden hoses leached the least amount of lead – less than the allowable lead levels for tap water. Among the other garden hose products, however, the lead levels ranged as high as 100 times the levels of lead allowable in drinking water.
Why Is There Lead in Your Garden Hose?
The lead and other harmful chemicals in your garden hose come from two different sources. First, brass garden hose fittings can contain up to 8 percent lead. The bigger problem, though, is the plastic used for the hose body. Many cheaper garden hoses – and some higher quality ones – use lead as a stabilizer for the plastic and as a pigment. It’s especially common if your garden hose is green or yellow – which includes most of them. In addition, PVC garden hose, which is very common, contains phthalates, which are endocrine disruptors.
So What Can You Do?
First, discard your old plastic garden hose and buy a natural rubber hose, suggests the Ecology Center. Second, look for a drinking water safe garden hose. Even with those precautions, however, the Ecology Center and Consumer Reports both recommend that you always flush the garden hose before drinking by letting the water run for at least 30 seconds before drinking. And just to be on the safe side, flush your garden hose before using it to water anything edible as well.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Winterizing Your Garden Hose

It’s getting close to that time of year when gardeners are bringing in their final harvests and getting ready to winterize the garden. While you’re picking up the mulch and putting in the spring bulbs, don’t forget to take proper care of your garden hose for the winter. If you’ve invested in a decent garden hose, you’ll want to make sure that you store it properly to preserve its life for another season.  Here’s how to do it.
Remove the garden hose from its outdoor fixture. If you typically store it on a garden hose reel or other holder, unwind it.
Drain the hose completely of water. Standing water in your garden hose can freeze and thaw during the winter, damaging the vinyl or rubber. The best way to drain the hose is to drape one end over a fence or chair back and stretch the rest out straight. Starting at the other end of the garden hose, hold it up over your head and start walking along the length of the hose, sliding your hands along it. This will drain any water toward the downhill end of the hose and drain it.
Examine the entire hose carefully, looking for any signs of wear or cracking. Pay special attention to any place the hose may have commonly kinked or bent. If your garden hose is showing signs of wear and tear, this is a great time to find a replacement hose. The end of the gardening season typically means sale prices on gardening tools, so if you’ve been considering an upgrade from a ½ inch garden hose to a ¾ inch garden hose, or thinking of replacing your old hose with a coil garden hose or a drinking safe garden hose, you won’t find better prices than you will at end-of-season sales.
Let the hose lay out in the sun for several hours to completely dry out before continuing.
If you have a garden hose reel, feed the hose onto it, taking care not to kink or tangle the hose.
If you don’t have a reel, coil your hose manually. Take one end of the garden hose in your off hand and drape the hose over your shoulder. Walk along the length of the hose, coiling it over your shoulder as you go until you reach the end.
Store the coiled garden hose in a warm, dry spot in your basement, garage or cellar until spring.
Need to keep your hose out during the winter to water animals or for any other reason? Consider investing in a heated garden hose. While heated hoses are somewhat more expensive than standard garden hoses, they’ll last far longer because they’re not subject to wear and tear from freezing.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tips for Selecting a Garden Hose

Finding a new garden hose is easy. You can find garden hoses at home improvement stores, hardware stores, department stores and online stores in a wide range of sizes, types and styles. Finding the right garden hose is not so easy. When choosing a garden hose you should consider how you’ll be using it, how you’ll be storing it, whether your new hose needs special capabilities and where it has to reach. Not sure which is the right garden hose for you? Consider these factors in making your choice.
How Long Is Too Long?
You know your hose can be too short, but can your garden hose be too long? Absolutely, say gardening experts. The longer your hose is, the harder your water has to work to get to the nozzle. If you’re using a long hose to reach a garden just a short distance away, the water has to travel a longer distance and needs higher water pressure if you want more than a dribble at the business end. Hoses that are too long also tend to get tangled more easily and are more prone to being damaged and causing trips and falls. Advice? Buy a hose that’s not more than 10 or so feet longer than the distance you need to carry it. Got two areas you need to reach, one further away from the faucet than the other? Split the difference, say the experts. Buy two shorter hoses so that you can use one to reach the nearer patch and hook them together to get to the further one.
Special Use Hoses
A hose is a hose, but some hoses have super powers. Think about the ways you’ll be using your garden hose to figure out which special capabilities or features make sense for you. One special type of hose that’s gaining popularity is a drinking safe garden hose. The interior of some garden hoses have an inner coating that contains lead and other chemicals. Standing water in those hoses can become contaminated. If you have kids who drink from the hose or if you water garden vegetables, you might want to err on the side of safety and opt for a drinking safe garden hose.
Storage Ease
A coil garden hose is designed to make storage easy in small places. Rather than being a long, stretched out tube, the coil garden hose coils like an inner spring, making them easier to control in tight spaces like your patio, or even your kitchen. If you choose a standard garden hose consider purchasing a garden hose reel to store your hose safely off the ground and prevent it from kinking and tangling when it’s not in use.
Expect to spend $25 to $40 for a high-quality garden hose that will last you for years. While there are cheaper hoses available, you’ll end up replacing them multiple times and spending more in the long run than if you buy a good, high quality garden hose in the first place.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Specialty Garden Hose Products and Accessories

Make your gardening and your outdoor life easier by choosing specialty garden hose products and garden hose accessories that help protect your hose, extend its life and give you capabilities you don’t get with ordinary garden hoses. Here are just a few of the specialty garden hose items you should have in your arsenal of gardening equipment.
Garden Hose Reel
The way you store your hose when it’s not in use makes a big difference in how long it lasts and how well it performs its job. Being in contact with the ground can contribute to mold and rot that will substantially shorten the useful life of your garden hose. A hose that’s sprawled on the ground is always at risk of being run over by a lawn mower, tractor or vehicle. It’s also an accident waiting to happen when people trip and fall over it. A garden hose reel is the ideal storage container for your hose. There are many types of hose reels available, but they all provide the same basic benefits. When you roll up your garden hose and store it on a reel, you get it up off the ground, making your yard a safer place for you and your garden hose. And in most cases, when you roll the hose, you’ll be emptying any standing water that can contribute to the growth of bacteria inside the hose.
Garden Hose Fittings
The metal parts of your hose are called garden hose fittings. They include the hose connector that screws onto your faucet or to nozzles and sprinklers, and the collar that connects the connector to the hose itself. High quality garden hose fittings can increase the life and utility of your garden hose. Cheap garden hoses are often made with poor quality metal that bends and warps, making it impossible to get a good, non-leaky connection to your water faucet. You can buy garden hose fittings to repair damaged hoses or to make them more useful at many online sites that sell garden hose accessories.
Coil Garden Hose
Coil garden hoses are a specialty garden hose that are ideally suited to small spaces, such as patio gardens. Usually made of high-quality vinyl, they’re coiled in the shape of a spring, minimizing the amount of space needed for their storage. Most coil garden hose products will be ideal if you need a ½ inch garden hose that’s less than 50 feet long.
Choosing the right garden hose accessories can make it easier to care for, maintain and store your hose properly, extending its life and saving you money.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Garden Hose Tips and Tricks

Does your garden hose tangle when it should lie flat? Do you have trouble reaching your entire garden? Are you tired of having to buy a new garden hose every year? These garden hose tips and tricks can make your gardening and outdoor cleaning chores so much easier!
Use a Garden Hose Reel
Storing your garden hose properly makes a difference in so many ways. A garden hose reel will keep your hose off the ground – and out of harm’s way – and prevent rot and fungus that can shorten its life. In addition, rolling up your garden hose on a reel will empty all the water, which reduces the likelihood of bacteria growing in standing water inside that dark, cozy, warm environment.
Maximize Hose Output
The diameter of the garden hose you choose affects how much water is delivered at the business end of the hose. The most common garden hose sizes are the ½ inch garden hose, 5/8 inch garden hose and ¾ inch garden hose, as well as 1 inch water hose. Unless you’re filling a swimming pool – or watering troughs – regularly, a 1 inch water hose may be overkill, but a ¾ inch garden hose is ideal for most household tasks, from watering your garden to washing down your siding.
Use More Than One Garden Hose
Need to reach more than one place on your property? The longer your garden hose is, the less water pressure you’ll get from it. If you need 50 feet of garden hose to reach the flower beds by the driveway but only 25 feet to get to your vegetable garden on the other side of the house, why not invest in a multi-connection manifold for your outdoor spigot and keep two garden hoses connected – a 50 foot one to go in one direction and a 25 foot one to reach the veggies. As an added bonus, you can water both gardens at the same time.
Get the Right Garden Hose Fittings
The garden hose fitting attaches the garden hose to your faucet. You can make your watering chores easier by making sure that the connector is made of good quality brass that won’t warp or get bent out of shape if you step on it. You can also buy various attachments for your faucet that will make your hose easier to connect, or provide a swivel function that prevents wear on your garden hose.
Most importantly of all, always buy the best quality garden hose you can afford. Paying a little more for your hose in the first place can save you a lot of money over the long run.

Friday, July 13, 2012

How to Love Your Garden Hose

Most gardeners have a decidedly rocky relationship with one of the most important partners in their gardening efforts – their garden hose Anyone who keeps a healthy garden has nearly daily use for a garden hose watering plants and keeping the lawn looking fresh and green. For many of them, using their hose means wrestling with an intractable and unwieldy garden hose that insists on fighting them every step of the way. It kinks and twists, constricts their water, splits at inconvenient places and drips or leaks at the tap. You can avoid all of these problems and start to love your garden hose if you follow these tips to buy the right hose for your needs and care for it properly.
Pick the Right Hose for Your Needs
Do you really need a 50-foot one inch water hose for your garden? For most casual gardeners – people who have a small vegetable or herb garden in their backyard – a 25-foot ½ inch garden hose or ¾ inch garden hose are more than sufficient for their needs. If 25 feet isn’t long enough to reach most of your garden, consider a 50-foot garden hose but keep in mind that the longer your hose is, the more difficult it will be to handle. If you only need the additional length occasionally, consider buying two 25-foot garden hoses and coupling them when you need to get water beyond its reach.
Specialty Garden Hose Types
If you have a special watering need, chances are there’s a specialty garden hose to meet that need. Among the most popular specialty hoses is the drinking safe garden hose Most common hoses are lined with a plastic that may leach lead and other toxic substances into water that stands in it for any length of time. Drinking safe garden hoses are made of a non-toxic material. If your children – or you – drink from the garden hose on hot days, or if you use the garden hose to fill drinking containers, you’ll want to use a drinking safe garden hose that is safe to drink from.
A coil garden hose is designed for use in small and confined spaces like your patio. When you’re not using a coil hose, it curls into a tight spiral like a spring, making it much easier – and more attractive – to store and use.
Store Your Garden Hose Properly
A garden hose reel is one of the best ways to store your garden hose It keeps the hose off the ground where it can rot or be damaged by lawn mowers and garden tools. Rolling your hose up on a reel also drains the water from it, which helps lengthen its useful life by preventing bacteria and mold growth inside the hose.
If you’re in a rocky relationship with the wrong garden hose it’s time to go shopping and find a hose that will make your life easier.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Is One of These the Garden Hose You Need?

A garden hose is not just a garden hose anymore. Today, you can walk down the aisle in a home improvement or gardening store and find a coil garden hose, irrigation garden hoses, flat garden hoses, water safe garden hose, ½ inch garden hose, ¾ inch garden hose, 1 inch water hose, heated garden hose – and those are just a few of the selections. If you’re in the market for a new garden hose, one of these specialty garden hose options may be just right for you.
Coil Garden Hose
They’re cute, they’re compact and they come in pretty colors unlike typical garden hose colors of grayish green and green. The coil garden hose is popping up on morning talk shows, television ads and in product placements on television shows lately, raising its visibility and making a lot of gardeners think, “Hmm…” Is a coil garden hose right for your needs?
If your gardening space is small and you don’t need a hose that reaches for a full 50 feet, this could be the best garden hose for you. Coil hoses are especially at home on patios and even in your kitchen for watering your plants.
Drinking Safe Garden Hose
Do your kids like to snatch a drink from the garden hose on a hot day? Do you use it to fill your toddler’s wading pool? Then you should know that the typical cheap garden hose has an interior lining that contains lead. On a hot day, the standing water in your garden hose can end up with enough lead to make it dangerous. And while there’s no evidence that plants are affected by the lead in water they’re showered with, they can take up lead from the soil, which soaks up all that water from your garden hose. If you’re using your hose to water vegetables or edible plants, you may want to consider a drinking safe garden hose, which is certified lead-free.
Heated Garden Hose
Not all garden hoses come in when the weather turns cold. If you keep using your hose even after the first frost, a heated garden hose could be a worthwhile investment. Heated garden hoses have an electrical heater at the nozzle and connection ends. The heat prevents the water from freezing inside the garden hose and damaging it. A heated garden hose also cuts down on the time and hassle needed to deal with daily chores that require the use of a hose – you don’t have to wait for the ice to thaw and allow water to get through.
Choosing the best garden hose for your needs will ensure that you get the most use and convenience from your hose. Take the time to consider your needs and choose a hose that meets them instead of choosing the cheapest garden hose on the shelf.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Repair Your Old Garden Hose

A good garden hose is a vital gardening tool. If you buy wisely, the garden hose you purchase can last for years. Occasionally, though, even the best hoses spring a leak, get punctured or need repairs of some sort. If you started with a good quality garden hose, you can easily repair it for less than what you’d spend on a cheap-o plastic hose at the local home emporium. Here’s how to deal with the most common garden hose repairs if you’d rather save your hose than replace it.
Small Leaks
Even the best garden hose can spring a leak, especially if you forget to roll it up on a garden hose reel and it gets run over by a sharp object. If your hose has a small puncture or crack, mend it with hose repair tape or electrical tape. For best results, clean and dry the hose before applying the tape and let it sit overnight before using it.
Leak at the Spigot
The most common reason your garden hose leaks at the faucet is an old or deteriorated washer. Remove the old washer from inside the garden hose fitting, purchase a replacement and pop in the new one. That should take care of the leak for a couple more good years.
Large Leaks
Did you run over the garden hose with the lawn mower or gash it with your weed whacker? You’d hate to throw out 49 feet of perfectly good garden hose when the damage to it only affects 6 or 8 inches. Luckily, you don’t have to. It’s easiest to use a garden hose repair kit – a coupler that holds two cut ends of a hose together. Using a straight, sharp knife, cut out the damaged section. Trim the two ends as square as possible. Take the damaged section with you to a gardening supply center or home improvement store to make sure you get the right size and type of mender. In addition to size – a ½ inch mender kit for a ½ inch garden hose, etc. – you should  also be sure you get the right mending kit for the kind of material your hose is made from: vinyl, rubber, reinforced vinyl, etc. Loosen the screws on both sides of the replacement coupler. Carefully insert the ends of the hose into either end of the coupler until they meet. Tighten the screws until you can’t pull the hose out of the coupler. Attach the hose to the spigot and test the connection.
Replace the Fitting
If you’ve managed to crush or damage the male or female coupling that attaches the hose to the spigot or a nozzle, you can replace it with the proper garden hose fittings. Measure the hose diameter to get the right size fitting. Cut away the old coupling with a sharp knife or blade, squaring off the end as cleanly as possible. Insert the cut end into the new coupling and tighten the screws evenly until you can’t pull the hose out.
Like anything else of high quality, a well-made garden hose will last you for years and is always worth repairing. If your hose is past repair, take the time and effort to replace it with a high-quality garden hose that will last for years to come.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Perfect Garden Hose – Love at First Sight?

Finding the perfect garden hose is seldom as simple as walking into a hardware store and grabbing the first hose you spot on the shelf. Many people don’t put much thought into buying a garden hose at all, which costs them in the long run. They may end up with a garden hose that kinks and twists and makes watering the garden far more difficult than it needs to be. They may end up with a hose that splits or breaks, or a cheap garden hose that breaks off from the garden hose fittings. That cheap garden hose they thought was such a bargain can end up costing them a lot more than they planned.
Even a cheap garden hose will cost you $12 to $15. A high-quality garden hose will cost you anywhere from $20 to $50, depending on the size and type of hose you choose. The cheap hose may get you through one summer season – if you’re lucky. A good ½ inch garden hose or ¾ inch garden hose, on the other hand, can easily last you five to ten years. Do the math and it’s easy to see why it makes more sense to buy a high-quality garden hose instead of dishing out $15 every summer for a hose that won’t last.
Beyond quality, though, there are a number of things to consider when you’re picking up a new hose for your garden. Here are the most important considerations to help you choose the perfect garden hose, even if it’s not one you fall in love with at first sight.
Use
How are you planning to use your garden hose? If you’re like most people, you want a basic hose that you can use to water the garden one day and wash your car the next. A standard water hose will suit your needs just fine. Will you leave it outside or store it inside? If you need a hose throughout the year in an area that dips into the freezing temperatures, you’ll want to buy a heated garden hose to make your life easier and prolong its life. If your hose won’t go much further than your patio, your best option may be a coil garden hose, which takes up little space and looks good on your patio. Finally, consider a drinking safe garden hose, especially if you’ll be using it around small children or plan to water vegetables with it. These hoses are made of materials that won’t leach into the water, making them safer and healthier to use.
Reach
Consider how far you want to be able to reach with your garden hose and choose a length that will just get there. The further the water has to travel through the hose, the lower your water pressure will be when it gets there. If you do most of your gardening within 25 feet of the water faucet but occasionally want to drag it out to the driveway, you’re better off getting two 25-foot hoses and coupling them when you need more reach.
Choosing the right garden hose for your needs can save you money and make your life easier. Before you head out to the hardware store, figure out how you’ll use the hose and how far you want it to reach and you’ll find your choice is much easier to make.


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Is It Time to Replace Your Garden Hose?

April showers bring May flowers, but your garden hose can certainly make a difference. As the year rolls into gardening season throughout the country, it’s time to inspect your garden hose and decide whether it’s up to all the jobs you’ll use it for this spring and summer.

What to Look for When Inspecting Your Garden Hose

If you stored your garden hose properly for the winter – unless, of course, you had a heated garden hose that stayed out for the season – chances are that it’s in good shape for the year. A high quality garden hose will last for up to ten years if you take good care of it. A cheap garden hose, on the other hand, may not even get you through a full season.

Inspect the hose around the garden hose fittings for any fraying or wear. The hose is most likely to fray and wear around the connectors. If there’s even a little wear, your hose could sprout leaks at the spigot, which will waste water and make it harder to do the tasks you need to do.

Uncoil the hose and check its flexibility. A quality garden hose should uncoil smoothly and lay straight when you stretch it out. A cheaper vinyl garden hose without nylon braiding for reinforcement will very likely have settled into the coils and may not want to unroll. It may even have developed kinks that won’t release at all.

Check the length of the hose for cracks, splits or hard spots. Squeeze it gently along its entire length and be conscious of any areas where it feels different. Those areas may have hardened and become prone to cracking or splitting when you run water through it.

If everything seems fine, hook up your garden hose to the faucet and turn on the water to do a final test. If all of the tests go well, congratulations!

If, on the other hand, your garden hose fails any of these tests, it’s probably time to do some repair work on it or replace it with a new one.

Replace or Repair Your Garden Hose?

If the only place you find wear on your garden hose is close to the fittings, the repair job is a fairly easy one. You can purchase brass garden hose fittings from a supplier of garden hoses and gardening supplies. Cut the old garden hose fittings off with a sharp knife, making sure to remove the worn part of the vinyl. Follow the package directions to replace it with the new fitting.

If the damage to your hose is more extensive, you should replace the entire thing. Invest in a high quality garden hose so you won’t have to replace it again in a year or two. You’ll find many different types and sizes of garden hoses available, including ½ inch garden hose and 5/8 inch garden hose, the most popular sizes for general home use. Choose the right garden hose for your needs – and don’t forget a good garden hose reel to keep it safe and prevent damage to it when you’re doing yard work.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Is a Coil Garden Hose Right For Your Garden?

When choosing a new garden hose, it’s important to consider the way you’ll use it, as well as where you’ll store it. If you walk down the aisles of a hardware store or home improvement store, you’ll find dozens of different sizes, colors and types of garden hose, each of them seemingly perfectly suited for a particular purpose. Among them, you’ll see coil garden hoses, often in fashionable colors that will look great on your patio. Is a coil garden hose right for you? Here’s a quick rundown of the pros and cons of choosing a coil garden hose to help you decide whether it’s the right choice for you or whether you’d be better off with a more traditional ½ inch garden hose or 5/8 inch garden hose.

Easy to Use

Coil garden hoses, also called self-coiling garden hose, are essentially very easy to use. You connect it to the spigot, and move to where you want to go. The garden hose tends not to kink as long as you don’t pull it too hard or too far beyond its length.

Easy to Store

A coil garden hose essentially stores itself. You don’t have to coil it back up to put it away or wind it onto a garden hose reel. The flexible material is like a spring; you can pull it to reach other parts of the garden. When you release it or move back toward the spigot, the coils retract and coil back into shape.

Attractive

While most garden hose types come in just a few colors – most of them in the green range so they can blend in with your lawn – the coil garden hose tends to come in bright fashion colors, including turquoise, deep blue, gold, purple and, of course, green. Pick out the color that goes best with your patio furniture or accents your house.

Cons of Coil Garden Hose

There are down sides to a coil garden hose, of course. They’re designed for smaller spaces, and won’t stretch to their full length comfortably, so be sure to get a longer hose than you think you need. Once you start moving beyond its coiled range, the garden hose will tend to pull back. It’s not the hose you want to use if your intent is to fill a wading pool unless you’re filling it very close to the spigot.

If you intend to use the coil garden hose mostly on and around your patio and won’t be trying to pull it around corners, it might be the right choice for you. If you need more flexibility, you can choose from many other specialty garden hose products, including drinking safe garden hose, heated hose and 1-inch water hose for large volume water delivery.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Garden Hose Tricks You May Not Know

The humble garden hose may be one of the most overlooked and underappreciated household tools every created. Nearly every home has one, and many have several. Good gardeners understand the importance of the garden hose they choose, but most people are content to buy a cheap hose and simply replace it when it springs a leak, splits or falls apart.

Because they buy cheap hoses, many people end up paying far more than they think they do to keep their lawns and gardens watered, wash their cars and fill their pools. The cheap garden hose you pick up at your local store is a loss leader. If you’re lucky, you may get two seasons out of it before you have to replace it. If you lay out the cash to buy the best garden hose you can afford and treat it well, it may last 10 to 15 years before you have to buy another one. And in those 10 to 15 years, you may find that you get a lot more use out of your garden hose than you ever expected.

Lay Out a Garden Path

Have you ever wanted to lay out a curving or winding garden path but weren’t sure how to do it? You’ve probably got the perfect tool for the task in your shed – your garden hose. Simply lay out the path using your garden hose. A high-quality rubber hose will curve naturally in the direction you want to go. Don’t try it with a cheap garden hose, though. The plastic, nylon-wrapped hoses that you can pick up in the bargain aisle for $12 tend to kink and try to coil on themselves. A decent ½ inch garden hose or ¾ inch garden hose will lay where you put it and provide an excellent guideline to lay out your path.

Two Shorter Hoses Are Better than One Long Garden Hose

Should you buy a 100-foot garden hose or two 50-foot garden hoses? Most experts will recommend the latter. You may end up paying a little more for two hoses than you do for one longer one, but you gain a lot in flexibility. The longer your garden hose is, the more water pressure you lose before the water reaches its destination. If you only ever intend to use your hose to reach 100 feet, this doesn’t make a lot of difference – 100 feet is 100 feet. But if you’ll be using your hose to extend over shorter distances, you’ll be pushing water through lots of extra tubing. If you buy two shorter hoses, you can hook them together when you need the longer length and just use the shorter length when you don’t.

You’ll also find that two shorter hoses are easier to store than one long garden hose. Uncouple the hoses, and the two will drain more quickly and easily than one long hose, and two shorter hoses are considerably easier to coil and put away.

Specialty Garden Hoses Make Your Life Easier

In addition, you’ll find many specialty garden hoses that are designed for specific tasks. Soaker hoses, for example, are perfect for watering soil rather than spattering water all over the foliage of your plants. If you use your garden hose to fill water troughs for your animals or to grab the occasional drink when you’re out in the yard, a drinking safe garden hose is good for your peace of mind.

When you buy the best garden hose for your needs, you’ll get more use out of it, and spend far less money over time. Why waste money when you can get a better product that lasts longer?

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A rose by any other name may still be a rose, but sometimes a garden hose is more than just a garden hose. Nearly every homeowner owns at least one garden hose. They’re used to water lawns and gardens, wash cars, hose down driveways and fill pools and water features. While your basic cheap garden hose may work just fine for a season’s worth of use, some homeowners opt for a specialty garden hose that is more durable, delivers more water faster or has a special feature that’s important to them. The best garden hose for your needs is obviously the one that actually meets those needs.

Heated Hose

In some areas of the country, a heated hose is a necessity if you need running water outdoors or in unheated buildings, such as barns and kennels, during the winter months. Heated hoses have an electric heater that warms the length of those to keep water flowing through them in temperatures as low as 0 F. If you routinely fill water troughs or need water to clean kennels or water an ice skating rink, a heated hose will make your life much easier.

Drinking Safe Garden Hose

The interior of a drinking safe garden hose is lined with material approved for food contact by the FDA. They’re commonly marketed as marine hoses, but more and more people are opting for a drinking safe garden hose to water vegetable gardens and for use around their families. When you choose a drinking safe hose, you can be comfortable about your kids grabbing a drink from the hose and be sure that the water you’re pouring on your vegetables isn’t laden with dangerous chemicals.

Coil Garden Hose

A coil garden hose offers convenience to those who only need to reach a limited area and have limited storage space for a garden hose. The tightly coiled spiral shape makes them easy to store and attractive if they’re left out. If coiling your garden hose for storage is a problem and you don’t need more reach than about 10 yards, a coil garden hose may be a good option for your watering needs. Coil garden hoses also eliminate the need for a separate garden hose reel because they essentially coil themselves.

Choosing the best garden hose for your needs may involve looking beyond the typical ½ inch garden hose or ¾ inch garden hose. Consider your options carefully and choose a garden hose that will deliver the benefits you need.

Friday, March 16, 2012

What Size Garden Hose is Right For Your Needs?

Most people don’t give much thought to selecting a new garden hose. They pick one up when their old one splits or when their current garden hose isn’t long enough to reach an area they want to water. Confronted in the hardware aisle with the dozens of styles, types and sizes of garden hoses, most people either buy the hose that’s on sale or opt for a mid-range garden hose in the length they think they need.

Unfortunately, since they didn’t stop to think about their needs before choosing a replacement water hose, they often end up with yet another hose that doesn’t quite meet their needs and has to be replaced in a year or two. Next time you have to replace or buy a garden hose, take a few minutes to consider your needs and learn how to choose the hose that best meets them.

Diameter

Diameter is an often over-looked factor in choosing the right hose for your needs. The diameter of the hose determines both the amount of water you can deliver per minute to your destination and the strength of the stream you can direct at it. While there are other factors in determining water pressure – distance traveled and incline, specifically – the diameter of your garden hose is the most important one.

The most commonly bought garden hoses are 5/8 inch in diameter, with ½ inch garden hose and ¾ inch garden hose coming in slightly behind it in popularity. While they may all sound close in size, the performance differences among the three hoses are surprisingly significant.

Just how significant?

The average home water pressure is about 40 pounds per square inch (psi). If you hook up a 25-foot long 5/8 inch water hose, it will put out about 44 gallons of water per minute. A ½ inch garden hose of the same length would only deliver 24 gallons of water per minute while a ¾ inch garden hose would deliver water at the rate of 72 gallons per minute.

In other words, ¾ inch garden hose delivers water three times as fast as a ½ inch garden hose. If your intent is to fill a swimming pool or garden pond with water, it will fill three times as fast with the wider diameter hose.

Length

Obviously, you want to choose a garden hose that will reach your intended destination, whether it’s your driveway for washing your car or your garden. However, it’s also important to remember that the length of your garden hose will affect the flow rate and water pressure. The longer your hose is, the lower your water flow rate will be. In order to make the best use of water, choose the shortest length of hose to get to your destination.

Next time you need to buy or replace a garden hose, take a few minutes to think about how you’re going to use it so you can be sure to choose the best size garden hose for your needs.



Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Garden Hose Facts and Information

The garden hose is such an everyday item that few homeowners stop to think about the job that it does until it fails them. Nor do most garden hose owners realize that many of those failures – leaky garden hose couplings, splits in the hose and poor water pressure among them – could be completely avoided by purchasing the right garden hose from the start. These simple garden hose facts can help you make the right choice the next time you have to replace this basic garden staple.

Garden Hose Capacity

The number of gallons a hose will carry and the pressure at which it will deliver that water are determined by three factors. One of them – available water pressure – has nothing to do with the hose. The others are an intrinsic part of the garden hose – the hose’s diameter and its length. While it’s simple logic that a garden hose with a larger diameter can carry more water, most people underestimate just how much difference that simple thing makes.

The diameter you read on the label refers to the inside diameter of the hose. The cheapest hoses are usually ½-inch diameter garden hose. They’ll deliver 9 gallons of water per minute. A 5/8 inch diameter garden hose will deliver water at 17 gallons per minute. The increase of 1/8 of an inch nearly doubles the carrying capacity of the hose. A ¾ inch garden hose delivers water at 23 gallons per minute.

It’s also simple logic that the longer the water has to travel through the hose, the more pressure it loses on the journey. Most people don’t realize, however, that water loses more pressure in a narrow hose than it does in a larger garden hose. According to hardware store experts, if your water pressure at the faucet is under 40 psi, or if the garden hose is extra long or is running uphill, you should use the largest size hose available to maximize the amount of water pressure you have for washing your car, sprinkling the lawn or watering the garden.

Garden Hose Care and Storage

A good garden hose can last for many years if you care for it properly. One of the most important things you can do to preserve your garden hose is to avoid kinks, either while you’re using the hose or while the hose is in storage. During the season, store your hose on a garden hose reel or hanger that allows you to coil the hose loosely and avoid sharp bends or kinks.

If your hose does get kinked while you’re using it, don’t yank on it to loosen the bend or you might permanently set the bend. Instead, work it free by hand.

In cold weather areas, drain the water from your garden hose at the end of the season and clean out the threads in the garden hose couplings and store it indoors in a loose coil. If you need a hose outdoors during the winter, consider a heated garden hose, which will not crack or freeze.

Choosing a high-quality garden hose might set you back a few more dollars, but it will pay off in the long run because you’ll get far more years of use from it.