Five Types of Garden Hoses (and Which Ones to Choose)

You probably don’t think about your hose until it starts to leak, at which point you’re reminded how oddly expensive hoses are and how little you thought about them before. It’s easy to forget what a useful tool this is until you find yourself unable to water your garden, bathe your dog, clean out the trash can, or wash tree sap off your car.

For the past 25 years, I’ve bought every damn hose on the market, then eventually ran it over with my car and had to replace it again. Here’s what my experience has taught me about which hoses to buy and when.

(First, a brief reminder of basic hose care: you should disconnect the hose every winter, pump it as dry as possible, and then store it in a place where it won’t freeze with water inside. You don’t need to coil or coil your hose, but you shouldn’t run into him – though everyone ends up doing it by accident.)

Standard green garden hose

We were all young and broke once, and this is the hose of our youth . This is the cheapest option you can buy, often 1/2″ smaller instead of the 5/8″ your outdoor hose bib is likely to have), meaning it takes longer to water. The material is cheap and will crack easily, no matter what the label says. It is very sensitive to environmental conditions, from high temperature to negative cold. It flexes very easily, and once it forms a fold, it will flex in that spot over and over again. If the hose somehow lasts more than one or two seasons, it will inevitably begin to leak at the connection when the plastic fails.

The only legitimate use for this type of hose is when you need passive hoses (hoses that you never plan to move) to connect your irrigation system or something similar. Otherwise, it is a hose for one or two seasons. Pros: Cheap. Cons: Everything else.

Can you run across it? In my experience, you definitely can’t.

When to buy it: Only when you can’t afford the best, or you need a hose to passively supply water to a fixed object (such as an irrigation system).

Expandable hose

Man, it was so easy for me to sell this puppy that I practically yelled “take my money” on TV every time the commercial was shown. The expandables were marketed as ultra-light and impossible to bend, making it a thrilling experience to watch them expand with water and then shrink like a flaccid penis when you turn off the water. I’m ashamed to admit it wasn’t as exciting as the ad promised. The positives are definitely the lightness and the fact that it doesn’t really kink. But it mysteriously got tangled in knots and leaked all the time. It’s annoying that you had to turn off the faucet about a minute before you finished watering to let the hose empty and shrink. Even though I bought ten of them (I was deeply committed and sure I hadn’t found the right brand yet), they never lasted more than one season.

Pros: Doesn’t break, easy to maneuver. Cons: Not very durable, leaky.

Can you run across it? Never.

When to Buy: Those with limited space, who live in climates with mild winters and summers, who don’t need much watering, and who tend to clean it up after each use.

Heavy Duty Hose

After a few hoses need replacement and you have a bit more disposable income, you will go all in at some point and buy the strongest hose you can . I did, of course. And frankly, it was a beast. For five seasons, he never leaked, and he thought that he would sometimes bend over, as soon as you unbend him, the hose forgets and does not remember in rubber. So what made me finally quit this thing? Weight. Moving it around the yard was a real exercise, and winding it up was out of the question. As a result, he often lay limp around the yard until needed elsewhere. The same heaviness was a serious threat to my garden, as moving it meant possibly crushing a few plants; more than once I have taken out a delphinium or a tomato, yanking it gently to water something a few feet away, realizing that it had clipped a tall stem.

Pros: Built like a tank. Cons: Heavy, expensive.

Can you run across it? A fleet of tanks can run over this hose without any problem.

When to Buy: You’re a farmer and possibly a bodybuilder as well.

metal hose

Lifehacker managing editor Megan Walbert swears this hose can do absolutely no harm, pointing out how easy the hose twists. It’s honestly very nice given its overall flexibility, and if that’s all I needed to use the hose for, we’d still be in our honeymoon phase with this hose. But I had a few problems with it. I didn’t like how the metal got hot in the summer, making it hard to hold, and the water inside the hose got hot. Since I don’t want to flambé the nasturtiums, this means running the hose for a minute until the water cools down. I also didn’t like that it was 1/2″ because ideally you want to get as much water as possible from the hose bib into the hose and control it at the end of the hose with a knob. Plus, he failed Amanda’s real test, which means you can’t run him over with your car.

Pros: Easy to roll and store. Cons: Heats up easily, fragile, low power.

Can you run across it? One time maybe. But not twice.

When to buy it: You live in a mild climate, use the hose only occasionally, and store it where it won’t get crushed. For these reasons, this is often a good city hose.

Retractable hose

I have two summers with my wall mounted retractable hose . Retractables are usually stored in a case attached to the wall. You pull it out when you need it and when you’re done, give it a little tug so the hose retracts into the body like a tape measure. A smaller hose connects the retractable hose to the bib, and the bib sometimes rotates as well. There are only a few fussy downsides – the hose was designed to be to the right of the hose bib, so the connecting hose exits on the left side, which doesn’t look right if you need to mount it to the left of the hose. bib like me. Works fine, but it’s a cosmetic issue. Also, you have to install it, which you don’t have to worry about with any other hose; for me it took about fifteen minutes. The hose is black so if you leave it uncoiled it will heat the water inside in summer.

However, there are many more pluses than minuses. First, because it’s mounted above the ground, you’ll crush far fewer plants when you drag it. As a rule, due to the fact that most of the time it is removed, the water inside it does not heat up at all. The hose itself is quite light, so it is easy to move around. Finally, if you’re the type who never reels the hose out of laziness or because there’s simply no proper place to store it, this solves both problems in a very satisfying way.

Pros: Very easy to store, which eliminates many potential hose problems. Cons: Needs to be wall mounted.

Can you run across it? I don’t know yet, because the ease with which it folds means it never got in the way of my car’s tires.

When to buy it: When you need a reach of 100 feet or less, you can install the hose within 5 feet of the hose bib and you don’t need a heavy duty hose. (This should cover almost everyone.)