Garden hose...is it worth it?

Discussion in 'Gardening Other' started by Vincenza, Jun 17, 2015.

  1. Vincenza

    Vincenza New Seed

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    Hi all! I currently live in a townhouse and, prior to starting my container garden out back, I didn't bother to look for a hose faucet because I just assumed there was one (my neighbor has one). Upon inspection...nope, not one anywhere to be found (although there's one out front) :suspicious:. My neighbor explained that the builders didn't install them behind the townhomes located at the end of the buildings because they figured that we could just run a hose from the spigot out front...as in, run a hose behind all the shrubbery out front, then down the entire length of the side of the building (again behind all the shrubbery), then under the fence out back. o_O It's actually a bit of work and a lot of garden hose. Currently, I've been watering the plants by hand . So, my question is...do you think it's worth it? I don't have a tremendous amount of plants to water but they're calling for below normal rainfall this summer so they're going to need to be watered frequently.

    What do ya'll think?

    Vinnie :stew2:
     
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  3. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Check your kitchen faucet if it is close to the back door. Does it have a removable bit at the end? You could find a hose for watering houseplants that attaches to the faucet and pull it outside for the containers. Do a google.com search for 'indoor plant watering hose' and see what comes up. Most come in 35-50 foot lengths. And remembering how expensive a good outdoor hose is the indoor ones will probably be cheaper and easier to handle.

    I would also get a rain water collection barrel hooked up to your guttering and catch what rain you can and it doesn't take much from an average size roof area to fill a 55 gallon barrel. Also, you can keep a bucket under the bathtub faucet to catch water when you are letting it warm up for a shower and pour that on directly on the plants or in the rain barrel. I have 5 rain barrels and have had a bucket in the tub for a few years since our drought was 5-10 years long.
     
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  4. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Toni has given you good advice. I'd add that a bucket for washing vegetables in the kitchen sink, rather than just letting water run over them and down the drain, is another source of moisture for your containers.
    Here in Texas almost anything that will hold water, and can be utilized, is a bonus.
     
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  5. Vincenza

    Vincenza New Seed

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    I like the idea of a kitchen sink hose but unfortunately, my kitchen sink is nowhere near the back door. :( I work at a home improvement store (no discounts for employees) and you're right, toni...the cost of a good outdoor hose in the length I would need is probably going to be more than I care to spend right now. I never thought of using a rain barrel...I really like the idea. Are they difficult to install?

    Thanks folks! :)
     



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  6. marlingardener

    marlingardener Happy

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    Vinnie, rain barrels are the easiest type of rain water harvesting to install. Just get a 55 gal. barrel, which can be purchased cheaply or even for free from a car wash place, or from your local water provider (the car wash place has soap in theirs, and the water provider has chlorine in theirs, so just rinse them out thoroughly before using). You can even use a plastic garbage can if you can't locate a barrel.
    Put the barrel under a downspout that has been cut off to accommodate the barrel, get some mosquito dunks and put 1/4 of a dunk in the barrel, and then dip and carry. While you are watering your plants by hand, you are also noticing any problems they may have, or deciding it's time to harvest or dead-head.
     

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  7. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    My first rain barrel.....
    http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/homemade-rain-collection-barrel.16103/

    My second one is out front has an electric pump so I don't have to turn a faucet handle and wait for the pot to fill up.

    http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/tonis-new-rain-barrel.27235/
    Hubby included how-to photos and instruction on how he did it on both links above.
    So far my hubby has hooked up 5 to our gutters, course we had to put up gutters first since the house was built without them in 1967. The two barrels out front have electric pumps, man are they great to use. The three out back don't but one has a hose going to the Fig tree and that's pretty much all I use it for. The other two have faucets but I am hoping for pumps on then sometime this summer.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2015
  8. 2ofus

    2ofus Hardy Maple

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    So far (knock on wood) we have no water restrictions and are even one of the few towns that have no water meters, just a flat rate, to pay. I will have to admit that I have a tendency to waste some water washing the dirt off vegetables but other wise we try to be conservative. It upsets me when I see a lot of people turn a sprinkler on and leave it on for 3 or 4 days in one spot! That is ridiculous.
     
  9. cherylad

    cherylad Countess of Cute-ification Plants Contributor

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    I have 3 rain barrels (two are 55 gallons, one is 35 plastic drums from the car wash). I also have a 30 gallon trash can by my brother's storage building. You'll still be watering by hand, but you won't have to haul it so far.
     
  10. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    Personally I think having a garden hose of some length on hand always a good idea. I garden on an allotment and that means if I give water, it is always done by hand. I have walked kilometers carrying plant watering cans full of water. It is no fun in the heat of summer, I can tell you. We have a spigot on our personal lottie, but garden hoses are prohibited.
    Before I waffle on further, let me just stop and say that the bottom line is (in my view) that it is good to have a garden hose, especially if a little draught pops its ugly head up.

    As for the finances--well the investment in a garden hose is something that you do once, and then you can get years of use out of it.....sort of like buying an auto.

    My colleagues here on the Stew have also given some very valid and good alternative suggestions for you to mull over. I do not really know how your home is laid out, but using a rain barrel for the collection of rain water is a great idea that I do myself. I also have a huge rain barrel that I run city water into...like a great reservoir. I leave the top off of it for about six hours so that the chlorine and so forth can evaporate. I almost never give water directly from the tap, as my plants do not seem to appreciate city water with the purifiers in it. The reservoir is a reasonable compromise for me.

    Good luck with your hose quandry.
     
  11. Vincenza

    Vincenza New Seed

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    Thank you everyone for all of the wonderful replies and ideas! I think I have found someone local who is selling inexpensive rain barrels...I just have to swing by one day to see if he still has any available. I moved several of my smaller plants inside yesterday as the temp was soaring and they were looking pitiful (I have no shaded areas at all out back). They perked right up and seem to be doing much better. I'm currently trying to figure out a way to put the others out in front of the house without the HOA having something to say about it. There's shade and the garden hose is there as well. :like:

    Thanks again everyone!
     
  12. Sherry8

    Sherry8 I Love Birds!

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    You could try making some type of covering from the sun to give your plants a break . I have even used an umbrella when I couldn't carry a plant inside. It did help except in the wind...
     
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  13. Vincenza

    Vincenza New Seed

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    Covering them up has helped a lot. After digging around in the attic, I found a small canopy that a previous housemate had left behind that fits perfectly behind the house. Not only has it kept my plants from burning up, it saved them from a recent severe storm that came through! :like:
     

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