Garden Hose Hints and Tips

You work hard to keep your garden healthy and looking beautiful, so what about your garden hose? A garden hose is one of the most essential and valuable tools for your garden. There are a few simple strategies you can try to keep your garden hose working properly and to extend its life. If you take really good care of your garden hose it can end up lasting for many seasons. Take care of your garden hose and you won't need to go buy a new one. Try these easy tips to keep you garden hose working properly for years to come.

Garden hose hints and tips # 1: Prevent damage when uncoiling

When you go to uncoil your garden hose, make sure that you turn on the water first before uncoiling. When the water is running through your garden hose, it will help keep it from getting kinks as you pull the hose to your garden or flower bed. The water inside the garden hose will prevent the hose from wrapping over itself, which will cut off the water supply.

Garden hose hints and tips # 2: Get a garden hanger for safe storage

An easy way to keep your garden hose stored safely is to invest in an inexpensive garden hose hanger. This worthwhile investment will ensure that your garden hose won't develop any cracks or end up crimping and causing damage. The garden hose hanger doesn't need to be expensive or eccentric, just a basic hanger will work fine.

Garden hose hints and tips # 3: Repairing leaks

No need to throw away your garden hose if it has a leak, you can easily repair the leak yourself with a rubber patch. Get a piece of sandpaper and gentle rub it on the hose surrounding the leak. Then get some contact cement and apply it to the rubber patch and then to the hose surrounding the leak. You will need to allow the contact cement to dry, and then when it is dry, firmly press the rubber patch over the leak and then wrap the patched area of the hose with some black electrical tape. If you don't have any black electrical tape, using silver duct tape will work just as well.

Garden hose hints and tips # 4: Make your own drip-irrigation system

If you have a garden hose that is beyond repair because of numerous cracks and leaks, don't throw it away. You can use it for an easy, low-cost irrigation system. Get a nail or an ice pick and puncture more holes into the garden hose. Get a hose plug or a cork and plug up one end of the garden hose. Then lay the garden hose in the desired location in your garden that you want watered. Turn the water on low so the water will drip slowly from the holes in the garden hose into the ground, watering your plants. Most of the time when you purchase an irrigation system for your garden, they can run a hefty price, but by using a garden hose that you were going to throw away anyway, saves you money.

Using these strategies to make the most out of your garden hose can save you precious time and money.

Sources: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Household Solutions