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New Life for Old Garden Hoses

January 12, 2011 By: VK Melhado Category: Tools of the Trade

When your old garden hose is worn and in poor repair, don’t throw it out. Garden hoses can be used in a number of ways and will remain useful long after they cease being used for watering your lawn.

Here are just a few inspiring ideas for your old hoses:

Protect Young Trees: When supporting young trees, cut a piece of garden hose and run wire through to attach to support stakes. The hose prevents the wire from damaging your saplings.

Earwig Trap: Earwigs love to hide in small, dark places. Place 6-inch pieces of hose in your garden to attract these nasty insects. Later shake them free into a bucket of soapy water.

Garage Buffers: Especially helpful for new drivers in the household, screw lengths of hose at bumper level to corners of the garage door frame to prevent unsightly dents in the trim.

Soaker Hoses: Make your own soaker hose by crimping the open end and drilling some holes throughout the hose. Bury it just under the soil around your plants and fill with water. It will keep your plants watered for days.
Water Level: Walter Reeves, the host of TV’s Garden Sense, transformed his garden hose into a giant water level in order to set an even grade for his patio. He attached 3-foot pieces of clear vinyl to each end of the hose and filled it with colored water.

Tool Hanger: Halve a 2 foot segment of hose and screw both ends to a wall. It creates a hanger that will hug the handles of your tools.

Blade Protector: Slit a length of hose and slide it over the teeth edge of your handsaw to protect the blade when not in use. This also works great with knife or ice skate blades.

Bucket Handle: Slip a piece of hose through the wire handle of a bucket or paint can to provide a better grip.
Swing Protector: Slide a length of swing-set chains through garden hose to protect little fingers when swinging.

Faucet Extension: Bury lengths of linked hose underground to relocate an outdoor spigot to a more useable location.

Snake Scare: Create a snake decoy to frighten away annoying flocks of birds. Cut a short length of hose and lay it on the grass in a snake position. It fools them everytime.

Downspout De-Clogger: Push the hose up through a clogged downspout allowing the water from the gutter to drain and carry away any trapped debris.

Play Telephone: Make an old-fashioned play telephone for the kids. Cut a length of hose and attach a funnel to each end with duct tape. Let the kids chat all they want.

Landscaping Tool: When laying out a new garden, use a length of garden hose to create the initial outline and then dig around it.

Curve Sander: Hose works great as a sanding tool for tight curves such as trim or crown molding. Take a length of hose, split it lengthwise and insert one edge of the sandpaper. Wrap it around the hose, trim to fit and insert the other end in the slit. Close the slit with some duct tape and get sanding!

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Hose Pipes – types and uses

January 11, 2010 By: John Gibb Category: Create & Plan..., Tools of the Trade

Hose Pipes find enormous use in every walk of our life. The Hose Pipes are manufactured in different types, shapes and sizes. Hose pipes are made of different types of materials to suit the applications they are put to. In olden days the Hose Pipes were made of Rubber and its Compounds, which were very bulky, and could not be easily moved from one place to another. They also got damaged easily and it was difficult to repair.

Now the Hose pipes are made of Poly Vinyl Chloride the wonder chemical of the last Century that has got enormous applications throughout the World. The PVC tubing is made of Virgin Grade P.V.C. and range of Hose piping materials include: Flexible Tubing, PVC Flexible Pipes, PVC Garden Pipes & Hoses, PVC Sleevings, Sanitary Waste Connection Pipes & Tubes, Nylon Thread Reinforced Braided Hoses, Double Layer of Triple Garden Hoses, Solid Doris, PVC Strips, Belts and Profiles. (more…)

Garden Sheds and Tools

December 27, 2009 By: Andrew Troatt Category: Buildings 4 Gardens, Tools of the Trade

Garden tools need to be durable, usable, strong, have effective weight, be comfortable to use and should be very efficient. There are many garden tools available in the market so choose wisely and as per your requirement. The correct tools ensure that you complete your job quickly and efficiently. Garden sheds should be spacious and made in such a way that they can store your tools in a correct manner.

How to choose your garden tools:
Today even garden tools are being innovated to be multi taskers so that you can finish your work in half the time.

• Look for ergonomic tools as they are designed in such a way that they reduce the strain on your hands and are comfortable and you don’t have any unnecessary after pains. (more…)

Hose Pipes different Uses

December 13, 2009 By: John Gibb Category: Create & Plan..., Tools of the Trade

The Hose Pipes are one of the widely used items in the Modern days. These are used in all the fields from Agriculture to Aeronautics. The Hose Pipes help in transporting fluids from one place to another and they make the fluids themselves work in a particular way in a range of applications where they are installed. Without the Hose Pipes, it may not have been possible to have different types of Machineries and their use to the Human beings.

The advancements in the manufacturing processes along with the formulation of a range of Plastic, PVC and other Polymer based materials have made it possible for the manufacture of specialized Hose Pipes that can be used in highly specialized Applications. (more…)

Different Tools For Gardening

December 11, 2009 By: Jenny Styles Category: Advice General, Gardens - Flower, Tools of the Trade

It seems that home improvement stores are making their gardening supply and nursery stocks more expansive year by year. I think this is because DIY lawn and garden care is the easiest to break into as a homeowner. You can buy gardening products in various stores or nurseries, or you can order gardening products from catalogs, or even order them online. The trick is in knowing what you need for the jobs you plan to undertake.

You will obviously need the basic gardening tools no matter what you are planting, such as a hoe, spade, and maybe even a shovel. You must have watering supplies, like a hose, sprinkler and watering can. Other possibilities include a spade, a pot (if you are pot planting), and a pair of gloves for comfort, some pruning shears and a rake. Then, of course, there are the essentials such as the lawn mower and weed whacker, but we are mainly going to focus here on the basic landscape/gardening tools and leave the grass for another day. (more…)

Garden Hose Buying Tips You Should Know

November 18, 2009 By: Terry Edwards Category: Tips Tricks & Steps, Tools of the Trade

Of course, we all know that having a garden hose is necessary for anyone who has a garden or shrubs and plants around their home. But, not everyone knows what to be aware of when it comes to buying a new garden hose. Here are 3 quick tips you should know before shopping for your next hose.

1. Buy a long enough hose.

Always be sure that you buy a garden hose that is long enough for your needs. I know that sounds pretty basic, but you would be surprised at how often I hear about folks who try to save a couple of dollars by purchasing a shorter hose, only to discover they can not water the plants in the back of their yard. This is one case where having too much hose can be a good thing. You’ll save yourself some frustration of having to go out and spend more money on buying more hose. (more…)

Hoses for the garden

February 12, 2009 By: John Gibb Category: Tools of the Trade

The Hose Pipes are becoming more and more important in our Lives. We are using them in countless ways and their utility is too much to be ignored. We have Hose Pipes everywhere including in Houses, Offices, Factories and Agricultural lands etc. They help us in transporting of all kinds of fluids from one place to another. The advent of Hose Pipes has helped in making the Fluids they carry especially the Water to do many more things that were not thought some twenty –five years ago. One of the most used Place of a Hose pipe is the Garden, and the Hose Pipe happens to be one of the widely used as well as important innovation for the Gardeners. Invariably all the Houses that have Gardens have Hose Pipes for supplying water to the Plants. Without Hose Pipes man would have had to carry the Water from the Tap to the Plant. The nature of the Hose Pipe itself being very flexible and light weight has become the most ideal Garden watering accessory. (more…)

You are not a Gardener Unless You Have These Tools

October 08, 2008 By: Dave Rich Category: Tools of the Trade

Therefore, he or she will be able to add it to their tools whenever they are out toiling in the garden.

1) Shovel

One of the top essential tools when it comes to gardening is no other than the shovel. A gardener’s job just would not be complete without one being around. A spade and a shovel are two very different kinds of garden tools altogether. A shovel is required when you need to plant garden plants or shrubs, dig a nice size hole or move compost from a cart to a garden as a rule. Forged steel is a better choice than stamped steel when choosing a shovel for use in your garden.

2)Pruning Shears

There are two types of garden pruners for the gardener to choose from as a rule. These two types include anvil pruners and bypass pruners. Anvil pruners possess a blade. That is flat and the other has a knife. Bypass pruners work just like a pair of scissors and have sliding blades that go past each other to make a cut. Garden shears of good quality not only aid the gardener but also the plant itself. Because it allows a plant minimal injury when it is cut and the gardener allows snipping and cutting that does not strain the hands.   (more…)