10 Easy Pieces: Retractable Garden Hoses - Gardenista
My bias against As-Seen-On-TV miracle products kept me from paying much attention to a new generation of lightweight, kink-free garden hoses that stretch and shrink like rubber bands. In addition to accordion hoses, there’s a variety of other kink-free designs on the market, including self-coiling rubber hoses and wall-mounted retractable hoses that wind themselves up neatly when you don’t need them. For more of this garden, see Garden Visit: San Francisco’s Foggiest Backyard. If you’ve seen them advertised on TV, you may think that expand-and-shrink hoses are as unlikely to find a spot in your home as a Ronco 20 piece cutlery set. Billing itself as “the original expanding hose,” a 25-foot rubber X-Hose Pro is $21.95 from Amazon. Available in green, a Jhose Expandable Water Hose comes in lengths from 25 to 75 feet and with either brass or plastic connectors. A 75-foot Pocket Hose with brass fittings is $39.99 from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. A wall-mounted retractable hose is a kink-free, flexible option if you want a hose that disappears when it’s not in use. A retractable hose that extends nearly 100 feet and rolls back neatly to live inside a plastic case that attaches to a facade, a Mitroon 30 Garden Hose is the Rolls-Royce of garden hoses; $335 from Lumens. From Flo Master, a 65-foot Retractable Hose Reel has a swivel mount and is $107 from Amazon. A Hozelock Wall Mounted Auto Reel comes with a 40-meter length of retractable hose; £142.99 from Two Wests. Another flexible hose designed to get out of your way when it’s not in use is the self-coiling hose. Oregon based garden supplies entrepreneur Jeff Thomas invented the self coiling garden hose in 1997 Distributed by many retailers... ...a 75 foot Water Right Professional Coil Hose also is available in red for 69 95 from Water Right Available in three colors including olive and espresso (shown), a 50-foot Coiled Garden Hose is currently on sale marked down from $59 to $47.20 at Rejuvenation. A Featherweight Coil Hose weighs 4.1 pounds, stretches to a length of 75 feet and is available in three colors; $69.95 from Gardener’s Supply. A Gardena Professional Spiral Rose Set and comes with a wall mount, a pulse spray gun, tap connectors, and hose connectors.