Burying garden hose

I did this on a 200’ run 3 years ago with a kind of cheap garden hose that was 5/8”. I put it 8” deep and went with cheap hose thinking we might only use it for a year or two. I blow it out with my air compressor end it has lasted with no issues. The first year I must not have blown it out good enough and at the 150’ connector the brass split. Being 8” deep it was an easy repair. I never disagree with deeper but it would make fixing it harder and it would be harder to blow out as well. Knowing that it could come up some I do raise the core aerator when I go over that area.


Well looky here. Dang we have a hood search function.

Herminator said:

I did this on a 300’ run 3 years ago with a kind of cheap garden hose that was 5/8”. I put it 8” deep and went with cheap hose thinking we might only use it for a year or two. I blow it out with my air compressor end it has lasted with no issues. The first year I must not have blown it out good enough and at the 150’ connector the brass split. Being 8” deep it was an easy repair. I never disagree with deeper but it would make fixing it harder and it would be harder to blow out as well. Knowing that it could come up some I do raise the core aerator when I go over that area.

Click to expand...

Herminator said:

I did this on a 300’ run 3 years ago with a kind of cheap garden hose that was 5/8”. I put it 8” deep and went with cheap hose thinking we might only use it for a year or two. I blow it out with my air compressor end it has lasted with no issues. The first year I must not have blown it out good enough and at the 150’ connector the brass split. Being 8” deep it was an easy repair. I never disagree with deeper but it would make fixing it harder and it would be harder to blow out as well. Knowing that it could come up some I do raise the core aerator when I go over that area.

Click to expand...

I would bury 3/4 or 1" black plastic. We used that at our lake property. Never had a problem. When putting joints into the black pipe warm the black plastic with a propane torch -- you will get a much tighter leak proof joint.

rob

gdow said:

Howdy, easy question, I hope. Anyone ever bury a garden hose 12-16" deep and leave it there but blow it out with water at the end of the year to keep it from freezing? I've got about a 400' run back to the garden from the house spigot, and the cheapest thing to run by far would be a garden hose. That way I don't have to move 400' of hose every time I mow but can still water garden properly. Thoughts everyone? And thanks!

Click to expand...

Seems reasonable but since a 500' roll of 1/2" pex is under $150 seems that would be better long term. You could connect it to a hose on either end, with no fittings underground.

That pex is a great idea. Pex crimpers can be had pretty cheap, too, but if you only have a connection at each end of it, Shark Bite connectors are easy to pop on and off, but you may have a limited amount of times before the connectors leak. Whether you crimp or use Shark Bites, you may want to consider having a dedicated large valve for the compressed air to connect to.

robwheeler said:

I would bury 3/4 or 1" black plastic. We used that at our lake property. Never had a problem. When putting joints into the black pipe warm the black plastic with a propane torch -- you will get a much tighter leak proof joint.

Click to expand...

A few inches below the sod, add a short hose for hookup and you're good to go. Did this so many years ago for garden water and flower bed water.

Another vote for the black poly pipe used for irrigation. Here a 500' roll is about $125.......You can go smaller or larger in diameter, its only money.......

Not having the seams and using a product designed for the purpose is helpful. Making a repair in Irrigation tubing / piping is certainly easier than repairing a garden hose. Plus, there are all sorts of fittings already available for sprinkler heads, drip tubes, blow out valves, etc. that you simply add to the tubing.

A 500' roll is about the maximum length you want to handle when working alone as the larger rolls can be more challenging to handle and unroll and bury. If you have to use a shorter length of pipe, its easy to couple them with a union and a propane torch.

Pex line with shark bite fittings on either end. Cheap, easy, and very unlikely to leak. Pex has a much higher resistance to splitting when frozen than black poly. Thicker walls and the plastic in Pex is more elastic than plain black poly. Pex is also much easier to get fittings onto.

I have a 3/4 line run to one side of my property and plan on running a 1/2 line to my backyard this year. I'm getting tired of dragging 100 feet of hose to fill my pool and water plants. Some parts of the 1/2 line I'm running will be above ground so it will be set up to drain in the winter.

So the previous owners of our house had run a garden hose from the back of the house across the back yard and only buried it maybe an inch or so, that or the grass just reclaimed it over the years, then it went down the hill about another 200 feet with some parts on surface others buried. I have no idea how long that hose had been there before we moved in but I just recently removed it after 4 years and it still produced good water at the other end (course it had about 50' of head pressure). I removed it because I did not have a need for it and wife said it was ugly. Apparently I am the only ugly thing she will allow to stick around.

NOTE: this is in Maine. And I never winterized it other than unhooking it from the bib.

I ran 1100 ft of poly (well water pipe) down the hill and along the old maintenance road at the base of the slope. At some places, I've buried it where I need to run the bush hog. Lots more durable than plain hose. Although, I've had very old hoses, one dating back to about 1970, still in use but none buried.

Around 40 years ago I did a sprinkler system on the cheap by using inexpensive synthetic (not rubber) garden hoses and RainBird impulse sprinklers. I only buried a few inches deep sine I live in a mild climate. The total runs were about 400-500 feet, the longest was about 100. When we were getting ready to sell, I pulled it all up and had it replaced professionally due to marketing concerns. All of he hoses had turned from green to black, and had lost a lot of flexibility/ But, they were still delivering water after 32 years. The only leaks in that time were at the washers where the hoses ended at the sprinkler heads.

My only advice is to make sure you can find the places where hoses are connected together, since those connections will likely be the only leaks. Maybe even splice the hoses together with clamps and eliminate the male-female threaded connections that depend on rubber washers. BTW, recently I have started using silicone washers.

CJadamec said:

Some parts of the 1/2 line I'm running will be above ground so it will be set up to drain in the winter.

Click to expand...

I have no idea about the squirrels in your area, but here in SC any portion of plastic (PVC, PEX etc.) above ground will be gnawed through within a year. I just this year had the main wiring harness on my truck gnawed through. The repair bill was $11,000 plus. Last year the little rodents warmed up by completely gnawing the negative terminal off of a brand new Odyssey battery in the same truck.