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.

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.