Wait, don’t throw that old hose away. Turn it into a hosepipe wreath. Every garden deserves some garden whimsy. I made my first hosepipe wreath several years ago and over the years it has had some additions. This year it underwent a complete transformation.
The weather plays havoc with things and after awhile it began to look quite shabby. The first photo is the original wreath I made. The middle photo shows it a couple of years ago after some touch ups. Beside it is a photo of what it looked like at the end of last season. A major transformation was needed before it went back outside this year.
Take an old hose and cut off a length that can wrap around about 4 times to form the wreath shape. Tie with twine in a couple of places to hold the shape. Then you need your glue gun, some artificial flowers, small garden tools, and some small clay flower pots.
I removed all of the previous years sad looking decorations and started glueing small flower pots along the bottom. To the top I added some new little tools and a spring of blooms. Of course I wanted to try it out … but it looked too bare and not “gardeny” enough.
- my hosepipe wreath made from an old garden hose, some small clay pots, and some artificial flowers
I snipped off some blooms from little bunches of fake flowers I had in the craft closet and started adding them to the little flower pots.
I have it hanging by the entrance to my garden on an old hosepipe hanger. It is the first thing you see when you walk down the garage path. What a great conversation piece. I originally saw this idea in a Birds & Blooms magazine and changed it up to suit what I had on hand.
Here are some other things you can do with old hosepipes.
-to support trees or plants to stakes.
-to cover a pinching chain on a swing.
-to repair the ends of other hoses that get damaged.
-to make into a soaker hose by putting some holes in it at regular intervals
-to cover wire handles of buckets, paint cans, or any container with a metal handle
-to make up a short hose to attach to your outside faucet or your laundry tub faucet
-to outline that new flower bed you’re planning
-to make into a hoop to showcase a garden ornament that you hang from a tree
-to hold those large flower stems upright. Cut a bunch of pieces of hose several inches long. Tie together with a rubberband or wire. Insert these into an opaque vase
– Use 12 to 18 inch sections of old hose as earwig traps. Lay them on the ground at dusk around the base of the plants that are getting eaten Then, first thing in the morning you get a pail of soapy water and gently pick up each piece of hose and tap the end of it on the edge of the soapy water bucket. The earwigs fall out and drown, and you didn’t use any pesticides.
Do you have any other ways to use old hoses?
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