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.

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.