Gardening stuff to spark joy

July 1, 2018 1:25 PM

I need a new watering can, and a new thing for winding the garden hose onto. Anything interesting out there?

I currently have a half-broken plain green plastic watering can, and a boring small cart (also half-broken, sort of like this) for the hose. There must be more to gardening life than this. Do you have a watering can that you love? Is your hose holder somehow cheerful and whimsical?

They'll both be in the front of my house and I'll see them all the time.

I'm in the US and can shop on-line or in a store in the Seattle area.

posted by The corpse in the library to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

oxo good grips watering can! can be bought here comes in three colors and two sizes (used to come in three I have an old blue tiny one) I have a pink 3 liter and a green 2 gallon. It is easy to use, stylish and ergonomic, and is easy to store cause you can sort of swivel the spout around. I would however look to buy it in person at an ace. When I ordered the new large one- (old one have given up the ghost after 6 years of service) it came with the rose tip, but when I ordered the smaller one, the rose tip was missing. Might be better to just go to an ACE or Home depot and buy one in person where you can be guaranteed to get all the parts.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:33 PM on July 1, 2018

Haws? Nice enough, but a bit fierce in the wallet area.
posted by StephenB at 1:50 PM on July 1, 2018

So not quite a hose holder but a hose. I’ve switched to expandable water hoses this year and it has changed my gardening life. They collapse down to pretty much nothing, are incredibly light and flexible, and are so so maneuverable in the garden.
posted by lydhre at 1:59 PM on July 1, 2018

I meant to add, and then you can easily dump the hose in a pot like these, which I think look gorgeous.
posted by lydhre at 2:01 PM on July 1, 2018

I always got those crappy plastic hose reels, and watched them explode after a few months.

Then I got a 2 wheel Eley about 4 years ago, never had a problem. From my Amazon review:

It was easy to assemble. The packing was very organized. Like others here have noted, the tires gave off a very foul smell, so plan on building this outside. I really like that the tires are solid, any small inflatable tires I've had (garden cart, hand truck) have problems keeping pressure. The only problem I ran into was attaching the hose spindle. The threads look and feel like they're soft metal, I was afraid I might cross thread them. I put a little teflon pipe dope on the threads, it went in with no problem.

I did a few modifications. Most of the bolts were nylon locking nuts, but some weren't. I replaced all that were normal with nylocs. If you do this, take a bolt with you to the hardware store to make sure you get the right size. All the hardware is metric. You'll need the nuts to be stainless as well.

When you're building the reel, the nuts are almost impossible to reach with your fingers, you'll need a nut driver or a socket wrench with an extension.

I added an accessory tray. It turns out a soda six pack tray fits perfectly, I found one in the trash at the local convenience store. I replaced the bolts that hold the front bumper to the legs with 4 1/2" long 1/4-20 bolts. I assembled the legs using regular nuts and locktite, and the extra length holds up the tray. A ty rap holds the front of the tray. See the attached picture.

It holds 150' of Sears hose without a problem.

posted by Marky at 2:19 PM on July 1, 2018

I got one of those bronze hose pots for about $40 at Lowe's. I think it looks nicer than those plastic reels.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 2:39 PM on July 1, 2018

I'm fond of this watering can (Behrens, 2 gallon, galvanized):

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1274611

The last one I had lasted a little over 20 years before it rusted through in spots on the bottom (for reasons).
posted by the Real Dan at 2:53 PM on July 1, 2018

They’ve got lots of cute stuff at Swansons’ in Crown Hill. I’ve had my eye on one of those fancy hoses (in eggplant purple).
posted by matildaben at 3:01 PM on July 1, 2018

I have two different sizes of Tubtrugs in different colors, and they make me happy.
posted by matildaben at 3:04 PM on July 1, 2018

Another thing that makes me happy is my Japanese hand hoe (also from Swansons).
posted by matildaben at 3:07 PM on July 1, 2018

Lee Valley Tools has an online catalog that can supply many ideas, if that's all you want. Or, they ship globally, and their products are amazing. I have garden tools that I'm still using after 15 years that came with a lifetime warranty.
href="http://www.leevalley.com/en/home/OnlineCatalogs.aspx">
posted by Enid Lareg at 10:47 PM on July 2, 2018