A DIY Garden Hose Cover That'll Hide The Eyesore Without Having To Mount It

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Garden hoses can be something of a necessary nuisance. These unwieldy coils can be hard to manage, especially if you don't have a good place to put them. Some homeowners hang them from the side of the house, while others wind them into boxes. Both options involve installation, which can be challenging, or may not be allowed if you're renting. However, it's best to keep hoses off the ground: They can get damaged, kill grass underneath, or get in the way of the lawn mower. And you definitely want to protect your investment if you've picked up one of the best-rated Costco garden hoses. If using one of the wall-mounted solutions seems like too much work or out of the question, there's a popular DIY hack on social media: Create your own low-budget garden hose holder using a large planter pot. It's an affordable solution, can be done by almost anyone, and of the best perks of this project is that it will only take about five minutes to complete.

The only tool you'll need for this project is a power drill and a hole saw bit larger than your hose's diameter. Next, you'll need a sturdy planter large enough to coil a garden hose in. No specific planter is necessary, as long as it is large enough to fit your hose, and you can drill a hole in the side. You can go with a plastic, ceramic, or wooden planter, round or square. The plastic 14 ¾-inch lattice design planter from the Pure Garden Store is an attractive option, with legs, to keep it up off the ground. These planters generally range between $5 and $20. You can even customize them with spray paint, molding, or other decorative elements.

The first step is to attach a hole saw bit to your power drill. Choose a spot on the side of the planter near the base, where you can make a hole for the hose to pass through. The planter should already have holes at the bottom to allow water to drain, so you shouldn't have to worry about that. Feed your hose through in such a way that most of it sits coiled in the pot, while enough sticks out so you can attach the hose to a spigot. When you're ready to use it, pull the hose out from the planter. You'll need to uncoil the hose more carefully with plastic planters that don't have much weight.

There are a number of variations on this hack online. You can disguise your garden hose storage by using a large pot, and filling a planter base, larger than the pot, with dirt and small plants to set on top of the pot. Some pots are already designed with a hose hole on the side, so keep an eye out for those. If you're not sure this is the right storage method for you, you can DIY your own wall-mounted storage, and keep your garden hose organized with a metal bucket. 

You can also protect your hose from sun damage and extend its life by covering the container that you keep it in. Garden hoses are susceptible to UV damage, and can be brittle in 3 to 5 years, left outside. Your cover can be as simple as an inverted planter base, or you can create a custom cover for the pot.