Gardening Chores

Yesterday I set up my summer porch.   Now for me, summer is officially here—well sort of.  I love sitting out here in the late afternoon and early evening.   It’s my favorite part of this house and a great place to read, put your feet up or just listen to the grass grow, lol.

Just the deck left to set up.  Today, I have an appointment, afterwards I’ll stop and get my potting supplies and work on the deck planters.   I’m still bringing in my annuals at night.  The temps have dropped precariously low a couple of times this past week and we are not officially frost-free till Memorial Day.

 

Another chore I did yesterday was to inspect my garden hoses and hook them up.   I store my garden hoses in the garage for the winter after they are completely drained of any water.   When I buy garden hoses, I buy the best quality that I can afford.   My first choice is natural rubber but I know that is getting harder to find.  

One thing that annoys me when I’m watering is leaking (usually down the front of my pants or on my feet) and the easiest way to prevent that is to replace the washers in the connection fittings every year.   Below is a picture of a new washer (on the left) and the washer that I replaced (on the right).   In only a year, the washer shrunk and the rubber dried out, because of water conditions (minerals, chlorine, etc).   The washers are a very inexpensive fix.  You can buy a bag of them for less than $2.00.   Garden hoses come in two diameter sizes—1/2 and 5/8 inches but the connections and washers are  a standard size and  fit both.  You can buy different kinds of washers, some are plastic,  I think the rubber ones below are the best.

 

If I can’t remove the old washer with my finger, I will carefully pry it out with a flat head screw driver.  You may find that the new replacement washer is a bit too large, just use your finger to push it down as far as it will go, so that it sits tight in the bottom of the coupling.   You’ll know if it isn’t seated correctly if you can’t thread the coupling onto the outdoor faucet.

 

Gail :)