A pink garden hose with a blue spray nozzle.
A garden hose usually attaches to an external spigot or faucet allowing water to be sent through the hose to specific parts of the garden or yard. Hoses can be brought from most homeware, hardware and gardening stores.
Uses[]
Bought hoses are attached to a source of water outlet such as water taps. There are many types of hoses used for different types of purposes.
Hoses can also be found in on some buildings attached to walls generally being coiled around a hose reel. These are used in case of a fire outbreak, giving quick access to water. Control nozzles allow the control of the flow of water and how much is used. Fire trucks have hoses that can be attached to these fire safety outlets and to fire plugs.
Some lawn hoses are specially designed to lie flat and have small holes spaced along their length so that the water flowing through sprays out to cover an area rather than to provide the flow of water to one specific spot.
Lawn hoses, especially the sprinkler type, can be fun to play in and cool down in the summer.
Hoses can be used to clean things: to spray water on cars, boats or other large items.
They can also be used to fill things with water, such as children's plastic pools.
Restrictions[]
Use of the water hose are banned in parts of the world due to water shortages. Some places of the world to have imposed this rule are parts of Australia and north-west England. In the U.S., some regions restrict the days you can water the lawn or do other activities that use lots of water like washing a car.
Characteristics[]
Some things to look for in a garden hose:
- length -- long enough to get from the faucet to the parts of the yard or garden you want to water
- external coating -- able to protect the hose when left for long hours in the summer sun (materials), check the UV rating
- flexibility -- usually hoses are coiled between uses
- diameter
- couplings
Related[]
- lawn
- sprinkler system
- watering can
- safety
References[]
- Tips for choosing the best garden hose by Scott Nyerges on consumersearch.com
- The garden hose review on Gardening Tips 'N Ideas
- Wikipedia's article on garden hose