Garden Hose Reel Give Away Contest
My #1 angst and drama in the garden is dragging hoses around and storing them, so when Ames offered to send out a few hose reels to test with the goal of having a give-away contest whereby one of my lucky readers would also win a hose reel and be able to live with less drama in their lives, I jumped at the chance. I totally replaced all my hoses this year to be drinking water safe hoses — because I want an organic garden watered safely with no lead. Then we replaced the hose reels of course. At the bottom of this post are all the contest rules, but before we give-away a hose reel, let’s check out a few of the ones from Ames I was able to review.
Ames NeverLeak® Poly Wall Mount Hose Reel With Manual Guide
This hose reel features the Ames NeverLeak® aluminum water system (see top photo), which resists cross threading, stands up to cold temperatures, and is 8 times stronger than typical plastic water systems. This hose reel worked fine, but sadly, I was unable to attach it to my house because the spouse doesn’t want me to attach anything to the house – you get my drift – the husbands vital needs are important. So therefore, I tried it as a standing unit and it worked just fine. It’s hose guide was not very guidey overall and was sometimes a challenge to coordinate (see right), but the hose pulled out with ease and was easy to access. I think this hose reel would work in a challenging spot with very little space – perhaps an urban garden.
Ames NeverLeak® 250′ Hose Reel Hose Cart With Hose Guide
Ames hose reel cart is mobile and features the NeverLeak aluminum water system (see above photo). This heavy duty hose cart includes a manual hose guide with a utility tray and the leader hose is included. I loved this cart on my flagstone paths. I have some unique vertical wall gardens in my garden this year (like the Boston ferns above left) and the hose cart was helpful. I could detach the leader hose and reattach it to a water line in a different location. I used the utility tray to put my snippers and would snip while I was hosing, but the manual hose guide was sometimes a challenge. Good product that would be best for a gardener who has gardens in several locations around the property that needs tending to.
Ames NeverLeak® 225′ Auto-Track ® Designer Series Hose Cabinet
Ames® hose deck box is stylish, functional, and the auto-track hose guide worked like a charm (see above photo). Absolutely no wrestling with the guide unless the hose got kinked (see photo right). Kinked hoses are tragic, of course, but reeling with this cabinet went very quickly because of the auto-track guide. It features the Ames NeverLeak® aluminum water system which will not leak under normal use. I loved this hose cabinet — really easy to use, plus I used the top to set my tools, drinks, and everything else you could think of I drag through the garden (reading material, birds nests, bags of leaves, pillows, etc.). This is also a space saver because you can set things on top of it. I really liked this hose cabinet and see it as good for any traditional garden.
AND THE WINNER IS —
Announcing the randomly selected winner. ::drumroll please:: It’s Vickie Paquin for her tip on poison ivy, “The best tip I’ve ever had is how to get rid of poison ivy in places where it’s not convenient to spray all you have to do is slip a grocery bag over your hand and pull the plant and pull the bag down over poison ivy tie it up and throw it away Nothing touches your skin!!!” Congrats Vickie!
HOW TO WIN A HOSE REEL –
It is easy to enter to win the hose reel of your choice from the above selections. In the comment section below give me a garden tip that you learned from someone you love (be sure to leave an email so that I can find you to award your prize). Share some garden tips – get a hose reel. Seems like a good deal, right?
I will randomly select one comment to win the contest on June 21, 2014 and will have the Ames peeps send out the hose reel to the winner. Special Note* — contest only open for people who are within the contiguous United States for shipping purposes. Also – I’ll be giving the majority of the hose reels to a local community garden to help them organize their hose drama after this contest. 🙂
to have a healthy strawberry plant, pinch off the runner and re-pot it. You will have new runners shortly.
Aphid control with a dilute solution of water and ivory soap. From my grandmother who had an extensive rose garden.
This really is an oldie, but so many people who have never gardened before want to try home grown tomatoes. There’s nothing like home grown, right? Years ago, a friend of my parents taught me about pinching off “suckers. The place where branches divide into 2 directions, sometimes there is the little guy poking out right in the middle of the other 2. They suck nutirient and energy from the fruit-bearing branches. PINCH IT OFF. Shawna, I know this one has been around for eons, but newbies need to know, too.
Since it is almost Father’s Day, I’ll share something about my dad. He has been growing raspberries in his yard for a long time. My mom always made jam & when she died, he took over that job, supplying the whole family. He says to water regularly & to cut away the wood from only the ones that bear fruit. Last year was the first year that my baby plants provided enough berries for a batch if jam.
I’m fairly new to gardening because, honestly, for a long time I was afraid of doing it wrong. Now, I have a beautiful flower garden that blooms through my front yard … where I am now, typing this comment. Karen — a friend whose gardens you crane your neck to see, while driving through the western suburbs of Chicago — shared this: show no mercy. Pull and pick the heck out of those damaged coleus leaves. Have no fear. Snip, aggressively, those hail-damaged hosta leaves. Because it will all return, healthier and better than if you were afraid to do something about it in the first place. Her advice is like life. Sometimes you have to get dirty, get involved and take a risk … and know good things will return to you because you tried. Every morning, I step out into my garden to take care of it. And it takes care of me.
Also, give your kids the responsibility of taking care of two or three plants. Honestly, something that simple has saved a whole lot of sanity (and a few time outs).
I like the hose deck box. Garden tip: Always water roses at the bottom.
Thanks Shawna for the great information. I love to garden and sometimes don’t have prime gardening time. I use coffee grounds, not too much, in and around my Hydrangeas and other garden areas to help with the soil acidity and nutrients. My Hydrangeas love them and every year I have had amazing blooms. I also pinch back the stem of my spring bulb after it has bloomed and wait for the leaves to turn brown to cut back so the bulb gets all of the nutrients for next year’s blooms!
In honor of Fathers day. I had been trying for years to grow avocados into a tree to plant in the yard from a seed. The seed would always crack or get moldy from the cup and tooth pick method. One day while strolling in my dads yard enjoying his labors of love (fruit trees) I asked him “why cant I get the avocado to seed into a plant?” his response “Just plant the dam thing!” So I did and I have two avocado trees now. All those years of putting avocados in a glass of water to root was a waste of time, just plant the seed in the ground with the smooth end up. Happy Fathers day!
Take good care of your soil, and your soil will grow beautiful things. The best advice after that is don’t be afraid to try something new. If you always do what you always do, you will always get the same results. It works out best to do a little every day and keep things tidy and always grow what you love. And Shawna our fountain and 1500 gallon cistern is getting installed in a few weeks. Being on a corner lot, we are putting in raised beds on the side and will be working our way up and around the front of the house. Grow more veges and herbs.
My father always taught me to let your water sit In buckets or a rain barrel before watering your plants (especially vegetable plants). This will prevent the cold water for shocking the roots of tender small plants.
I have not been fortunate enough to receive tips from someone I love. Maybe it is because on Mom’s side no one gardened. Dad’s parents died when he was young. He was,also, a migrant worker as a young man before he went into the Navy. I guess he had enough of the hard labor and wanted no part of gardening. Luckily, I have learned a lot on my own. I hope to give my tips to my children an grandchildren.
Later in the summer you can root in water a sucker you trimmed from a tomato. You’ll have a tomato plant you can pot up and grow in the house in the winter.
Mulch, mulch, mulch to conserve moisture!
Jackie
My Dad loved roses but wasn’t keen on memorizing the botanical name given to the rose by the breeder. Instead, he would plant roses in memory of loved one’s and give the rose that loved one’s name. He would point to a rose in one corner of the garden and say, “That is Aunt Mamie” with such love and pride. Flowers and plants are our connections to the natural world and to our family.
Count me in on your contest for 225′ never leak auto track designer series hose cabinet. Thank you!
The best tip I’ve ever had is how to get rid of poison ivy in places where it’s not convenient to spray all you have to do is slip a grocery bag over your hand and pull the plant and pull the bag down over poison ivy tie it up and throw it away Nothing touches your skin!!!
I leave an old mailbox in my backyard that holds gardening tools so I don’t have to go back into the garage searching for tools. It’s really handy.
Ames NeverLeak® 225′ Auto-Track ® Designer Series Hose Cabinet. One greatest tip came from my Dad; he usually had to plant okra more than once to get it to take. So as with all things including gardening……keep on trying!
A good friend of mine recommended putting crushed egg shells in the holes I dig when planting tomatoes to help prevent blossom end rot. Years later, I’m a master gardener myself now and have found no research indicating the tomato roots can actually access the calcium in the egg shells. Yet I still save up egg shells and do this every year because it makes me feel good to do something a little extra for the tomatoes. 🙂
I e mailed my tip before I figured out how to do your comment page. My garden tip is how to build the indestructable, never wear out trellis for growing your cucumbers, pole green beans, or any other vining type vegetables. Go to a Farm supply store and buy a galvanized cattle panel. They are 16 feet long and 5 feet wide with large square openings making it easy to harvest your vegetables. You can make several trellis’s out of one panel by using bolt cutters to cut them into any size you want. Some farm stores will even do this for you if you are real nice and they aren’t too busy. I bought mine at Wilco Farm Supply here in Oregon and have used them for years. They are strong and will last forever. If you choose my tip I would like the Ames Never Leak 225 auto track designer series hose cabinet. Thank You. Mike Hand
A garden tip that I learned from my mom — Never plant daylilies. I ignored her.
Gardening doesn’t have to be expensive, reduce, reuse and recycle all those containers you would normally toss out. I started small and grow veggies and herbs in yogurt containers, plastic cups, salad containers, milk jugs, juice containers, ice cream tubs, etc. and all from seeds either I purchased on sale or were given to me by others . I had so much that I shared it with my local community garden which will donate the homegrown veggies and herbs to food pantry.
My neighbor has the best eye for pruning shrubs like hydrangea. She says to cut back a third each year until it is the size you desire. Somehow she does it better than I. Thanks for the opportunity to join in on this great give away.
Ames NeverLeak® 250′ Hose Reel Hose Cart With Hose Guide — that’s the one I hope to win! A tip from some one I love: my grandmother taught me to cut roses with special scissors that cut the stem but kept holding the rose after it was cut, so I wouldn’t be hurt by thorns on her roses.
I’m entering for a very close family friend of ours, I’d really like to win to gift this to them. I know they’d love to win the hose reel. This was a good read and looking forward to checking more stuff out here. Thanks!
My mother taught me to reuse coffee grounds as fertilizer for my yard and flowers (and to get extra grounds from Starbucks!) If I’m the lucky one I’d love the hose reel cart with hose guide 🙂
Great product!!
I have been told that planting lavender and/or geraniums near entry doors will keep Mosquitos away. Just tried it…hope it works!!!
Love the enclosed garden reel. My connection is on my front porch so this would hid the hose nicely. If the contest is over I may just purchase 2, one for front & one for back yard!!
Roberta – the contest is over, but thanks so much for your tip!
It’s hard to find your website in google.
I found it on 12 spot, you should build quality backlinks , it will help you
to increase traffic. I know how to help you, just type in google –
k2 seo tips and tricks
I read a lot of interesting articles here. Probably you spend a lot of time writing,
i know how to save you a lot of work, there is an online tool that creates unique, SEO friendly posts in seconds, just type in google – laranitas free content source