Protecting Garden Hose Connectors

We have a fairly large garden which means that we have a few taps around the garden. Many of these taps have to have multi outlet hose connectors attached to them. This allows us to send water to where it is need during the warmer months.

We find that we need to have two way connectors (up to even four way connectors) on most of our garden taps so that we can connect multiple hoses and drip irrigation systems to the one tap. This way the hose connectors allow us to water more than one garden bed at a time.

Over the years though, we have gone through a few of these hose connectors. That’s because they tend to become old and brittle after a few years of being out in the elements. We use the plastic ones which don’t cope well with being left outside in the summer sun and winter frosts.

Earlier this year we changed over a few of the hose connectors on our taps and I started thinking about how we could protect them from the effects of sun and frost damage.

We have already protected one of our garden taps that is freestanding by popping a garden pot over the top of the tap and hose connector. This has done a good job of protecting them from the sun and frost. It also shields them from bird droppings that fall from the tree branches above!

However we have other taps with hose connectors that are harder to cover. These are the taps that are in an exposed area but are also up against the side of the house. After some thinking I decided that I could still use a simple garden pot to cover the taps and connectors. I just had to cut out a piece to allow it to fit over the tap!

The result was just what we needed. I gathered up three or four 20 cm (8 inch) black plastic pots and cut a U shape out of the top on one side. The cut out area of the pot allows the pot to fit completely over the tap and the hose connectors. We find that the pots can be used for any taps that are adjacent to a structure.

Now all we have to do is lift the pot off when we need to use the tap and put it back on when we are finished. They are probably not the most elegant addition to the garden but they do the job nicely!

This was a quick, easy, and cheap project that provides great protection to garden hose connectors and taps. Hopefully we should not need to buy new hose connectors as often now!