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If you've got plants to water, a car to wash, or a sprinkler to connect so the kids can splash around this summer, then you're going to need a good garden hose. If you want a great garden hose, the Craftsman Premium Rubber Garden Hose is our top pick. It's a flexible, durable, all-weather hose that's made in America and backed by a lifetime warranty.
Look, garden hoses aren't all that interesting, really. But unless you'd rather spend your weekend hours carrying buckets of water to every square foot of your lawn and to the flowers and shrubs lining the property, and unless you love paying top dollar at the local car wash, life probably dictates that you go ahead and get a garden hose.
Since you need a hose anyway, you might as well get a good one. A good garden hose will last for years and will make all your watering, washing, and summer fun projects easier. Also, the frustration of using a shoddy garden hose ranks up there with multiple paper cuts and burned out bulbs on holiday light strands.
This is a lesson I learned personally after buying two cheap hoses shortly after my wife and I moved into our first house. I figured one hose was more or less like the next, so why spend extra cash on something that simply needed to move water from the spigot to the sprayer? Big, annoying mistake.
I spent the better part of a year wrangling tangles and bends, trying and failing to make even coils after use, and soon enough, wrapping plumber's tape around numerous dripping punctures, cracks, and tears. Long story short, if you buy a cheap hose, you get a cheap hose. But don't worry, there are lots of great garden hoses out there that won't break the bank. In fact, our top pick also happens to be right in the median in terms of pricing.
But don't pick your garden hose based on price even if you aren't pinching pennies, because the most expensive hose on the market may not serve your needs. Instead, pick a hose that does. For the smaller property, a coiled or expandable hose is a good idea because it minimizes space occupied during storage. For a region that experiences a broad range of cold and warm temperatures, hose durability is more important than expansion and contraction.
Finally, think about who will be using the hose and for what. Coiled hoses are great for watering plants on a patio, for example, but terrible for connecting to a sprinkler set in the grass. A super strong steel plated hose might be great for the home with a dog who tends to chew on things, but might not be ideal for the senior citizen who has trouble lifting heavier objects.
Here are the best garden hoses you can buy:
- Best garden hose overall: Craftsman Premium Rubber Garden Hose
- Best lightweight garden hose: Water Right 400 Series Slim & Light Garden Hose
- Best coiled hose: Orbit 262380 25-Foot Coil Hose
- Best expandable garden hose: Hospaip Expandable Water Hose
- Best low-cost garden hose: Beaulife Steel Garden Hose
- Best irrigation hose: Melnor Flat Soaker Garden Hose
Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.
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