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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.