Best Garden Hoses in 2020 Reviewed

The Best Garden Hose

Keeping your grass green and your flower beds looking their best all year round can feel like a long, hard, and never-ending job can’t it? Recently I tried to find the best garden hose for all of my needs and I have to tell you that it was an absolute chore from beginning to end.

I had no idea what I was looking for, and I ended up just searching for hours and hours. That’s when I started thinking about if there was a better way to do things. I started researching correctly, picked up my notepad, and before I knew it I’d started the best garden hose article that you’re reading right now!

It’s taken me a while to work through everything that is on the market and to figure out what really makes the best garden hose. But, if it saves you time and effort then for me, it will have certainly been well worth it!

To make things even easier for you I’ve also created my very own buyer’s guide and added it to the end of my article. My hope is, the guide will be your go-to for all those burning questions and curiosities that you’ll have once you’ve finished my five product reviews.

That way you’ll never have to spend time searching and asking around when you want to know the answer to something. All you’ll need will be a minute or two to find the relevant question and then read my advice. If that doesn’t make shopping online easier than ever before then I don’t know what will!

So, without further ado let’s dive right in and take a closer look at the first entry on my list. You never know, it may end up being the perfect tool that you’ve been looking for!

Hoselink – Best Quick Connect Garden Hose

It’s probably no surprise that the first entry on my list comes courtesy of the team at Hoselink.

As a name in the industry that seems like its been around forever, they were a certainty to make it onto this list at some point, weren’t they!

The first thing that caught my eye was the length of the hose. At an impressive 82-ft, it offers a reach and extension that is outside that of many hoses on the market.

So, for that reason alone I decided to take a closer look at what it has to offer.

Enclosed within a stylish and compact storage case, the Hoselink is readily wall mountable and easily stowed away when not in use. To me, this is very important for several reasons.

Firstly it helps you keep the yard neat and tidy: Something that is certainly worth it given all the time and effort you’ll have no doubt invested in getting everything to look as good as it does.

Secondly and perhaps most importantly is the issue of pets. If you’re like me and you have an over-active dog who likes to get its nose and teeth into all sorts of mischief at a moment’s notice.

You’ll have definitely experienced the annoyance of having to drive to the store on a Sunday morning because your beloved pooch has chewed through your trusty hose.

By being able to stow everything away safely and securely, you’ll be able to make rushed trips like these a thing of the past with little or no effort on your part.

7 Functions  

By being able to spray and sprinkle with a variable flow rate, I think you’re going to really appreciate how easy it is to give your garden the healthy helping of water that it needs.

Not only that, but you’ll also be able to cater for the specific needs of different plants and grasses in all weather; hot or cold, wet or dry.

I think this is going to make gardening so much easier and that it will allow you to take your green oasis to the next level by really focusing on the individual needs of every plant.

Something that is great about the spray gun is how robust and easy to use it is. All you need to select a different setting is a quick twist with your wrist before you squeeze the sprayer’s trigger.

When you combine this ease of use with the sturdy plastic body that will easily withstand an accidental drop onto concrete or paving stones, you have the recipe for a really sturdy and long-lasting addition to your garden.

Brass Threaded

Something that always annoys me about a hose is when it leaks. That may sound kind of silly because surely that’s the only thing that can really go wrong with a hose (perhaps other than it becoming blocked.)

But take it from me there’s nothing more irritating. The number of times I have had to drive to the store to get some sealing tape to try and patch things up are too numerous to count!

If they’re made from plastic, they can be easily chewed up and damaged when cross threaded. That then greatly increases your chances of getting a slight drip that eventually turns into a continuous leak.

By using brass, Hoselink has massively reduced the likelihood of this happening which is something that really made me happy when I saw it.

Water Right – Best Flexible Garden Hose

Water Right is a team that manufactures some of the finest hoses I’ve ever seen which is why I didn’t hesitate to include one of their latest offerings onto my shortlist.

No best garden hose article would be complete otherwise!

The first thing that really caught my eye was how well thought out the choice of materials looks to be.

I was impressed with how they explicitly use nothing but lead-free materials, and how this ensures that if you opt to go with Water-Right, you can also use your hose as a safe way to transport drinking water.

You may not think that this is something you need from a trusty garden hose, but mark my words: There will come a time when you need to use it to solve all manner of problems. The more functionality and plus points a hose has, the more utility you’ll get from it in the long run.

To me, this looks like a no-compromise tool that has been designed and built by people who use them every day. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what else I thought of it…

100 ft Long

At a highly impressive 100-ft in length, this is one hose that I really liked the look of. With more than enough slack for you to be able to do just about anything in the back or front yard, I think that you will be extremely impressed by the additional flexibility that this gives you.

I’ve seen too many gardens where people don’t want to try planting something new in the run-up to spring because they don’t have the tools to see the job through.

If you’ve ever had that happen to you, then I strongly urge you to take a closer look at this product. It gives you options that you may not even need right now.

However, in my opinion, all that does is count more in its favor. By giving you the freedom to expand your garden as you have always wanted.

And as such, makes one of the many jobs on your to-do list that little bit easier. In my opinion, this is what all good tools should do: help you out.

Up to 70 psi

Fortunately, in this case, I’m happy to report that everything stays watertight! Which is really encouraging, because I think it indicates two things.

Firstly that you can use it to do a whole host of new jobs around the house by making use of a high-pressure jet of water, you can direct just about anywhere.

Secondly, you can get a feel for how long it will last. When you see a hose comfortably stand up to such high pressures you get a clear indication that its seals won’t fail you for years to come.

As someone who has lost count of the number of times that they’ve been left irritated beyond belief by leaky seals, you can take it from me that this is something that will save you all manner of headaches in years to come.

Craftsman – Best Garden Hose Pipe

Craftsman is a name that I’ve had my eye on for many years now.

So when the chance to take a closer look at one of their products presented itself, I couldn’t contain my excitement.

Tipping the scales at an impressive 100-ft their new premium offering is as long as any other hose on my shortlist of the very best on the market right now.

The first thing that caught my eye was how easy it was to coil up. The bend radius is precisely what you need to be able to easily reel it in, roll it up, and stow it away out of harm’s way.

That is really important if you want to keep your yard tidy and make sure that your new purchase stays out of reach of your pets who just love to chew these things. The upside of rubber is that it’s unlikely to crack in cold weather when you leave it outside all winter.

Plus, you can twist and bend it to get into the right position without having to be worried about the minimum bend radius that dictates what you can do with plastic or wire-strengthened tubing.

Built to Last  

The quality of the rubber is one of the most striking things about this product in my humble opinion. When I started researching it and reading the specification sheets, I was delighted to see how much thought had gone into choosing it.

With so many compounds out there you would half expect a manufacturer to opt for the cheapest one they could lay their hands on to save money.

That really doesn’t appear to be the case here, and you can see that same commitment to build-quality feed through to all of the other parts of the product. The best example I found of this was the connectors.

The threads are finely machined with no burs which indicate a reduced likelihood of crossed threads. I really love these small pieces of attention to detail because in my experience they will add up to significant differences in lifetime and performance as the years go by.

Simple to Install

When you purchase a new tool, one of the worries is always, whether it will do what it says on the box. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been left annoyed and frustrated by tools that don’t assemble or install as easily as I thought they would when I decided to buy them.

This is why I’m so excited to tell you that you certainly won’t find this to be the case here. There’s no catches like finding out to get the connectors adequately sealed you need to use some exotic graphite grease that costs more than the tube.

All you need to do is open the packaging, attach it to the wall, and water your garden. Which is fantastic, because it makes getting another one of the tasks on that seemingly ever-growing to-do list ticked off all that easier.

Perfect for giving you more time to spend enjoying your backyard and getting the relaxing time away from it all that we all need when Sunday comes around!

To be fair this wouldn’t put me off because of the quality of the hose itself, but I think that it is indeed something worth factoring into your decision-making process.

Metal Hose – Best Heavy Duty Garden Hose

When you think of hoses you won’t necessarily picture them being metal; let alone stainless steel!

I can hear what you’re already asking: ‘surely they’ll be so heavy that they’ll be impossible to use and I will just damage my lawn in the process?’

Well, I’m happy to report that you couldn’t be more wrong! The 304-grade of stainless that is used for this product is lightweight, rigid, and seems to be tailor-made for watering your garden.

I was as surprised as you are but when I took a closer look, I started to see why the manufacturer had opted for what on the face of it is a really unusual choice of material.

Think about it this way: If you want your plastic or rubber hose to be utterly resistant to kinks, pinches, and pesky animal chew marks make it out of metal! All you have to do to make it happen is create a design that’s lightweight enough to use like any other house, which is precisely what these folks did.

With that said, let’s dive right in and take a closer look at the details to see if this should be on your shortlist…

It Holds Its Shape

Now picture how easy it would have been if it had simply held its shape when you put it down for a moment to mop your brow under the beating summer sun. Sounds like food for thought, doesn’t it?

That is what I thought was exceptionally smart about the Metal Hose: its unique choice of material gives you access to functionality and options that no other material can. If you’re always on the lookout for something new that changes the game, then I suggest you keep reading about this one!

Full Weather Proof

One thing I must admit that did pop into my mind when writing the cons section below was whether or not the choice of metal for the tube material would cause it to die a long slow death over the course of its first winter.

With water and cold air working in perfect harmony to promote the spread of rust, would it just fall to pieces and spring a leak the moment you turn it on in the spring? Thankfully the answer is a rather emphatic ‘No!’

All-in-all, I took this as another example of what seems to me to be a firm commitment to maximizing build quality at every turn.

Polywit – Best No Kink Garden Hose

Something that attracted my attention straight away with this latest offering from the folks at Polywit was the range of attachments that it comes with.

You’ve heard me ask for an all-in-one kit to make getting started a little bit easier if you’re new to shopping around for hoses, so this was really refreshing to come across.

Not only does it come with a shut-off valve to make things friendly and safe and avoid you flooding a newly planted flower bed by mistake. It also comes with an eight-pattern spray nozzle which I really loved.

I like this type of fixture not because it sounds like it will do the job, but because when you put them through their paces, they really do exactly what they say.

If you’ve ever had to put your thumb over the end of a hose to get the spray profile you want, then you’ll know the feeling of shifting your grip slighting and getting drenched! Simple, long-lasting attachments like these, kind of nozzles definitely make all the difference to me because they make watering the garden so quick and easy.

If that sounds good to you, then read on…

High-Pressure Tubing 

This is mightily impressive when you compare it to the pressures that most other hoses on the market, and on this list, can withstand. By giving you the option to use it to pass high-pressure water, you may be able to pressure wash your car and exterior walls as well as simply giving your lawn a well-earned drink!

Another advantage that I’ve read about when it comes to latex is that it is super temperature stable. I’ve had cheap plastic hoses crack on me in cold weather, and it’s really annoying because you can’t do much about it other than get your wallet out and buy another hose.

If you live somewhere that is prone to very cold winters then I’d suggest you add the Polywit name to your shortlist and give it some serious thought before you decide what to buy.

Lightweight and Collapsible 

A lightweight hose is always a nice touch because it makes it easier to direct your water flow to its intended target. There’s nothing worse than having to wrestle your use across the lawn as water flies everywhere is there?

What Polywit have done is take lightweight thinking a couple of steps further than most other companies that I’ve looked at during my research and created a hose that is several times lighter than anything on the market: 6 to be precise!

In my experience, these types of big advances in one direction almost always result in tradeoffs which is why I was thrilled to find that they haven’t compromised the integrity or durability of the hose itself.

I’m always fascinated by new advances in technology like this, and if you are too then, I highly recommend you take a closer look.

Best Garden Hose – Buyer’s Guide

Now that you’ve read through my five reviews I thought it best to turn my attention to writing a buyer’s guide. There’s more to hoses and finding one that will meet all of your needs than you may think at first so I’ve created a go-to resource that will hopefully answer all of your questions and clear up any queries you may have after reading my reviews. I hope it helps!

Contents:

How Do I Know What Pressure My Hose Can Run?

There is no set rule on what a hose can safely accommodate, so I always suggest you refer to the manufacturer’s safety recommendations. They will have extensively tested their design to make sure that it is safe for everyday use.

Stick to that guidance and you will be safe and won’t run the risk of bursting hoses anytime soon!

How Long a Hose Should I Buy If I Want Optimum Performance?

As with the previous question, there is no definitive right or wrong here. When choosing the length, I always suggest that you measure out your garden and get an idea of what you’re going to be using your hose for.

If you have a 50-ft backyard, then don’t be afraid of choosing a 60-ft hose over a 100-ft hose. Remember, you’re not a firefighter so you don’t need to get the longest possible hose money can buy.

Important tip: Always allow yourself a little bit of slack so that you have room to expand your range of uses in the future. Additionally, make sure to pick something that fits well with the size of your garden.

Can I Get Additional Fittings?

Absolutely! You’re never restricted by the range of fixtures that your chosen hose comes with, but for obvious reasons, your manufacturer would prefer it if you bought from them. There’s no harm in looking around if you want a more exotic fitting or adaptor.

Doing so will enable an assistant to tell you the type of connector that you have.

Take it from me; this will save you all manner of headaches when you end up stacking adaptors onto adaptors trying to get something to fit. Especially when what you have wasn’t really designed to do the job in the first place.

Why Do Garden Hoses Have Temperature Ratings?

You may think this is a little bit silly because very few of us water our gardens in winter. The reason all manufacturers do this is for safety first and foremost.

When materials get very cold, their properties change, and many can become brittle and easily broken. Take the water that runs through your hose for example.

At room temperature is flows freely but once it freezes it expands,  breaks up and cracks as it forms ice. That is exactly what happens with all manner of other materials; they just do it at different temperatures than water.

In this case, the hose material will become heated and rapidly expand, if it happens too quickly then it may crack or become brittle. While you’ll never have to worry about such instances during regular everyday use, it’s certainly something worth bearing in mind if you live in a particularly cold region that’s known for its harsh winters.

What’s The Purpose of a Spray Gun?

If you haven’t heard the term before and you’ve been confused by the way I’ve been using it, then you should definitely continue to read.

A spray gun is a handy little device that you can attach to the end of your hose and turn it into a sprayer.

If you connect a hose with nothing on the end of it to your water main or a hydrant and then turn it on, water will just continue to flow out no matter what you do with the hose.

They also have the added bonus of having different holes for the water to go through which changes the spray profile of the water. If you’ve ever seen how hit or miss it is to modify the profile by partially holding your thumb over the end of the hose, then I think that you’ll love the ease of use that a spray gun will give you.

Should I Avoid Kinks in My Hose?

That can make it far more likely to leak or worse, burst.

If you’re ever in any doubt about whether there’s a kink in your garden hose, then shut the water off and take a close look. You can also test potential kinks by draining your hose and submerging the affected section in a bucket of water.

If you see a tiny column of water bubbles in a couple of seconds, this means that your hose has a small hole and should be replaced.

Due to the pressures involved I never recommend trying to patch it with waterproof tape or thread seal tape. Always replace the hose in fully, so that you can maintain its integrity.

One handy exception to this rule is if your kink is close to one of the ends of the hose. In this case, you may be able to cut it down and refit the end connector.

If you’re in any doubt about how to do this, I would politely suggest consulting with your local hardware or gardening store so that you don’t end up killing an otherwise healthy hose!

What Are The Best Connector Materials?

As a general rule, any material that a manufacturer sells will be more than up to the job. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to sell it, and they wouldn’t be allowed to sell it.

That said, not all materials were created equal, and some are certainly better than others.

Another advantage of stainless steel is that it is highly durable and resistant to mechanical handling errors. The main thing I’m talking about here is cross-threading.

That is where you try and attach your hose to the wall, hold it an angle relative to the tap rather than pushing it straight on. After which, you then hear the threads grinding against one another because they’re not lined up correctly.

Plastic connectors are made from quite soft materials in comparison and will just get chewed up the moment you apply minimal torque with your hand. When this happens, it’s very much game over, and time you bought a new connector.

Because of the toughness of stainless steel, you’ll feel incredible resistance straight away and hopefully be able to stop before you cause any lasting damage.

The same can also be said about brass: another common material used for fittings on a number of premium garden hoses that are currently on the market.

How Can I Find a Blockage in a Hose?

A blocked hose can be a real nightmare and is not the easiest thing to diagnose if you’ve never thought about how to do it. The first thing I always recommend is avoiding the brute force method at all costs.

By that, I mean cranking up the water pressure until the blockage clears. You have no idea how much pressure will be needed behind the obstruction to move it, and you probably won’t know what the blockage is either.

If it’s something hard like a small stone or a coin, then you may cause more harm than good when it suddenly flies out of the other end without a word of warning.

When it is easy to pinch flat, then you can assume it is empty.

As you work your way towards the wall you’ll eventually find a spot on the hose that feels incredibly hard, and you can’t compress: This is full of water. Find the location where the transition occurs, and you’ll have found your blockage.

The only thing you need to do now is figuring out how to get it out…

Luckily this leads on nicely to the final part of my buyer’s guide!

How Can I Remove a Blockage From a Hose?

But, other than that you’ll need to get the cutting knife out.

With your knife in hand, make a smooth cut around the outside of the hose; there’s never a good time to cut along the length of the hose for two very good reasons. Firstly you’ll find out the hard way that you have much less control of your blade than if you cut across the hose.

And secondly, that lack of control will cause you to remove more of your hose than you intended to.

Once you’ve cut out the blocked section, you can purchase a simple double-ended adaptor to join your two pieces of hose. If you’re ever in doubt as to what you need for your specific bore and material, then I would make your local hardware or gardening store the first port of call.

Take the removed section with you, and you’ll be able to try a range of adaptors on for size until you find the perfect fit. Installation should only take a couple of seconds as it relies on a simple tension fit on each end.