March 18, 2021

Protect Your Hard Work and Flowers

 
Every spring you begin the fulfilling work of renewing, replanting, and caring for your garden and lawn. It is both a hobby and a chore, but you are no doubt proud of the work you’ve done and do every year. Weeding, raking, turning the soil, planting, mulching, and watering daily might be your favorite thing to do. The results of all that hard work are often stunning.

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Hours, days, and weeks of hard work pay off soon as tender annuals bloom and your flower bed looks more beautiful than the year before. One morning you prepare to tend your lawn or garden by watering as usual. You begin to unreel the high-quality garden hose you’ve invested in and make your way to water your plants. Perhaps you pull a bit hard to get a little more reach on the hose that morning and—boom—you’ve accidentally flattened or worse, decapitated tender new shoots and flowers from your well-cared-for flower bed.

This scenario unfortunately is familiar for so many gardeners. Luckily, there is a wonderfully easy solution to protect your hard work and flowers all at once.

You may be familiar with them, if not, it is called a hose guide and it will help save your plants without marring the beautiful vista of greenery you’ve worked hard to create.

What are Hose Guides?

Simply put hose guides are objects that can be placed around corners of flower beds or around sensitive plants to prevent your garden hose from dragging over them. Functional, well-made hose guides are an excellent investment to protect the hard work that you do. The payoff is instant, as it saves you time from having to fix an uprooted plant, or having to purchase a new one, or having to start all over from seed once again.

How Long Will a Good Hose Guide Last?

If you purchase a hose guide made from the right materials, unlike plastic guides, they should last many, many years. Some exceptionally made hose guides may come with a 10-year warranty. With proper care and premium materials, your hose guide should last you several years without having to worry about replacement, corrosion, or breakage.

How to Choose a Quality Hose Guide

There are a wide variety of different hose guides to find. Some of them are ornamental and add beauty to a lawn, some of them are purely functional and may be obvious. A few of them can blend in seamlessly with your lawn or garden. Given how much time and effort you put into your flower beds, gardens and lawn, a hose guide should not detract from your efforts.
  • Look for a hose guide that doesn’t detract from the beauty of your lawns, gardens, and flowers. 
  • A hose guide should provide both innovative design and extremely user-friendly features. It should be easy to install and use. 
  • A quality hose guide should not snag or make it more difficult to unreel more hose when you need it. A garden hose shouldn’t catch or stick to a hose guide. While a hose guide that your hose sticks or catches on still protects plants, unfortunately, that just makes watering your garden more difficult as you will need to take time to struggle with the garden hose. 
  • High-quality materials made to withstand outdoor use. A hose guide will be outside during sun, rain, wind, and all sorts of weather. If it is made from subpar materials that cannot withstand UV rays or are not corrosion and rust-resistant, you might find yourself having to repeatedly purchase a new hose guide over and over. Not only is that a waste of time and your hard-earned cash, but a weak hose guide could also unexpectedly break in the middle of use which then presents the same problem—your hose accidentally crushing or tearing out plants. 
  • A hose guide should pivot as well. Having a pivoting hose guide allows the guide to be able to move with the garden hose to keep it captured and ensure that it won’t slip off. 
  • As well as not detracting from your landscape, you should be able to hide your hose guide when not in use. The ground tube should easily blend in with the yard and not become a tripping hazard at the same time.

With such an important role a good hose guide plays, it truly is a must-have to protect your hard work and flowers. It is a perfect tool for every landscaper, no matter their experience. Therefore, if you haven’t gotten one yet, consider purchasing one to save yourself valuable time, effort, money, and your beautiful gardens. 
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