Whether your lawn covers several acres or you need to manage a simple patio garden, garden hoses are essential outdoor equipment. Garden hoses have many uses, including watering grasses and plants, rinsing backyard toys and washing cars. Visit your local hardware or big-box store and you'll find a variety of garden hoses on the shelves. Take a moment to consider all options in order to purchase a garden hose that fits your watering needs.

The length of the

Garden hoses are incremented by 25 feet and usually have a total length of 25 to 100 feet. As the hose length increases, the water pressure decreases, so buy a hose that is long enough to use and never use it again. If you occasionally need long hoses, purchase two shorter hoses and combine as needed. Shorter hoses can be used to extend to hard-to-reach plugs or for terraces.

Materials and budget

All the garden hoses on the shelves look the same, and you might want to get the best deal. It's a garden hose, after all. It just sprays water. Unfortunately, not all garden hoses are created equal. Vinyl and vinyl reinforced hoses are inexpensive, lightweight and easy to handle. Rubber hoses and rubber-reinforced hoses are heavier and more durable. Reinforced hoses can better withstand temperature changes without kink or rupture. Another option is extra flexible, lightweight, and easy to store plastic hoses.

coupling

Hoses are places where hoses are connected. Your two main choices are metal and plastic. Brass is more durable than plastic, but can be difficult to tighten to the socket for people with limited hand power. For easy hand tightening, choose hose with ergonomic shaped plastic joints. Some hoses are reinforced near the coupling to prevent faucets from kinking.