Let's take a look at the garden hose that's best suited for your horticultural needs.

Hosing About

A hose is essential for watering a large area and saves you endless trips back and forth with a watering can even if you only have a small yard.  

In addition, if you're a container gardener, a hose means you can make your garden vertical - giving you more space to grow the plants you love.

The 5 Best Garden Hoses - Reviews

Best for Light Watering: APEX REM, 15ft

The Apex REM is a 15ft 3-ply remnant hose designed for light watering only. Being a hose remnant, it is not durable enough to cope with regular high-pressure use.

This hose comes with brass connectors although it can be difficult to attach these securely enough to prevent leaks whilst the hose is in use.

Pros

• Affordable

Cons

• Only suitable for light watering/low pressure systems

• Connectors can be tricky to fit securely

Value for Money?

As long as you're aware of what you're buying and that this hose is not designed for high-pressure systems, this is an affordable way to make watering your garden that bit easier.

Most Puncture-Resistant: Metal Garden Hose, 50ft 

This is a stainless steel 50ft garden hose designed to withstand everything, from fraying to dog bites! It also comes in 25ft, 75ft, and 100ft lengths, so, whatever the size of your garden, there'll be a hose to suit.

The hose is lightweight and the output is smaller than an average hose making it ideal for watering containers - especially those planted with delicate plants. However, it can get a little frustrating for larger areas of more durable planting.

This hose does not twist or kink which ensures that water flow is not inhibited during use.

Pros

• Puncture-resistant and fray-resistant

• Non-kink

• Lightweight

• Ideal for watering delicate planting areas

Cons

• Smaller output than average hose

• Difficult to get connector tight enough to avoid leaks

Value for Money?

If you're a container gardener, and your “garden” is a concrete yard, this hose could be a good investment. The smaller output means you won't flood your pots when watering, while the stainless steel hose won't snag on the rough ground of your yard.

Best for Rough Terrain: Flexzilla Garden Lead-In Hose

Available in lengths from 3ft (ideal for watering your windowsill herbs) to 100ft, the Flexzilla hose lays flat and coils easily. It will not kink whilst in use. It is also abrasion-resistant, making it suitable for use on rough terrain or in concrete yards.

The connectors on this hose are easy to fit tight and are not prone to leaks. However, they can blow out under high pressure so be aware of this when using.

Also, it is necessary to periodically remove the hose from the spigot over the course of the season and allow it to dry out. When left wet, it is prone to developing mold.

Pros

• Abrasion-resistant – won't scuff or rip on rough ground

• Lightweight

Cons

• Needs to be dried out regularly to prevent mold

Value for Money?

This is a reasonably priced lightweight hose.

Best Long Hose: GrowGreen 50ft Expandable Hose 

The GrowGreen hose expands to 50ft from a starting 17ft with water pressure (larger and smaller options are also available, from 25ft to 100ft). This gives you the benefit of a long hose without the hassle of having to store 50ft of hose which can get bulky!

It is lightweight which makes it easy to carry over larger areas without back or shoulder pain. It does perform better with low pressure systems, however, the connectors fit snugly and easily.

Pros

• Lightweight

• Easy to store

• Good customer service

Cons

• Best with low-pressure systems

Value for Money?

A reasonably priced hose that is ideal for general-purpose gardening work.

Best for Water Flow: Apex Never Kink 25ft Hose 

While this hose, like all hoses, does kink, it doesn't hold those kinks whilst in use and therefore water flow is not impeded.

The Apex Never Kink is a lightweight hose that is ideally suited to light gardening work.  The connectors attach easily and securely to minimise leaks, and the hose itself is durable.

Pros

• Kinks fall away once in use

• Lightweight

• Connectors fit easily and securely

Cons

• None that we could find

Value for Money?

This is a reasonably priced durable hose which is ideally suited to general gardening needs as well as other general-purpose uses.

If you liked our garden hose reviews, please share it with your Garden Club! And do check out our list of the best garden hose nozzles to see what's fresh this year.

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