Winterizing Your Garden Hose, Tap and Irrigation

Why winterize your hose, tap and irrigation now

Start this in the second half of October, before the first hard frost. Water left standing in a hose, tap or drip line expands when it freezes and splits the material from the inside. You will not notice until spring, when the tap leaks or the drip line bursts in ten places at once. Half an hour of work now prevents that.

The rule of thumb: anything that can hold water needs to be empty before the first sharp frost night. In Belgium and the Netherlands that is usually between mid October and mid November, but in some years it freezes as early as late October. Do not wait for the forecast, put this on your list now.

How water travels from house to hose

Before you start, it helps to know exactly where the water sits. From the pipe inside your house, it runs to the outdoor tap on the wall. From that tap it continues to your garden hose or to the drip system in your beds. Each of those three points, the pipe up to the tap, the tap itself, and the hose or line after it, can hold water. You therefore drain three separate places, not just one.

Work from inside to outside: first the indoor shut off valve if you have one, then the outdoor tap, then the hose, then the drip system.

Shutting off and draining the outdoor tap

Find the indoor shut off valve for the outdoor tap. In many houses it sits in the cellar or utility cupboard, sometimes just inside the outer wall. Turn it fully closed. Then go to the outdoor tap itself and open it, so the remaining water, roughly one to two litres, can run out of the pipe. Leave the tap open afterwards until spring: that way any condensation or rain that still gets in can keep draining instead of getting trapped and freezing.

No separate shut off valve for your outdoor tap? An insulated tap cover, a few euros at the garden centre, gives cheap protection against the first light frost, but it does not replace proper draining.

Emptying and storing the garden hose

Disconnect the hose from the tap and lift one end. Let the water run to the lowest point and drip out: that can be two to five litres for a twenty metre hose. Then hang the hose vertically over a rack or hook for a minute so the last drops run out too. A wet hose is heavy, so lift with both hands when you coil it.

Store the hose in a shed, garage or cellar that stays frost free and out of strong sunlight: ultraviolet light makes rubber and plastic brittle. Leaving it on the ground is not a good idea either, moisture and cold from below attack the material further.

Blowing out the drip irrigation system

A drip system has many thin lines that each hold a little water of their own. Start at the connection to the tap and disconnect it. Then find the end of the line in your bed, usually closed with a small cap or end piece. Loosen it and lift that end up: gravity then pulls the water out, which takes three to five minutes because it has to pass through many small drippers at once.

Does your system have a drain valve near the bottom, often a small grey turn valve? Open that first, it works faster than through the end piece. Once it is empty, coil the line loosely, never tightly, because frozen plastic cracks faster under pressure.

Preparing the rain barrel and the pond pump

Fully drain your rain barrel through the tap at the bottom. Use that water on your beds or your compost first, it is free and clean. Then leave the tap open for the whole winter, so any rain that collects again cannot build up and crack the barrel. Do put something over the opening, such as a small lid or an old tile, to keep leaves and dirt out.

Do you have a pump in the pond? Take it out as soon as night temperatures drop below five degrees, disconnect the hose and let that drain too. Store the pump dry, at least a metre above the ground, so mice cannot reach it and damp cannot creep up.

Common mistakes when winterizing

The most common mistake is waiting too long: people only do this once it has already frozen, and by then the tap may already be cracked. A second mistake is closing the outdoor tap but skipping the drain step: the water between the shut off valve and the tap stays put either way. A third mistake is coiling the hose tightly while water is still inside: on a freezing morning the rubber cracks and splits as you unroll it.

While you are already working on the garden, this is also a good moment to think about next year's layout, perhaps a new spot for the rain barrel or a bed closer to the tap. Not sure if it fits? On gardenworld.app you can see that first in an example of your own garden.

Step by step

Step 1: Close the indoor valve and outdoor tap

Close the indoor shut off valve if you have one. Then turn the outdoor tap fully closed.

Step 2: Drain the outdoor tap

Open the tap again so the remaining water, one to two litres, runs out. Leave the tap open for the rest of the winter.

Step 3: Empty and store the hose

Disconnect the hose, hang it vertically until all the water is gone, coil it loosely and store it dry and frost free.

Step 4: Blow out the drip system

Open the end piece or drain valve of your drip line. Let the water run out for three to five minutes, then coil the line loosely.

Step 5: Prepare the rain barrel and pond pump

Drain the rain barrel and leave the tap open. Remove the pond pump, empty the hose and store the pump dry.

Frequently asked questions

My outdoor tap is already frozen, what now?

Do not force it. Wrap the tap in a blanket or insulation against further frost and wait for a milder day to test it carefully. If you see a crack, repair it only once it has thawed, working on a pipe under pressure during a freeze does not work.

How long does winterizing the whole system take?

With one tap and one hose you are done in ten to fifteen minutes. With a drip system, a rain barrel and a pond pump as well, plan for three quarters of an hour to an hour for the whole garden.

Do I really need to do this every year, even after a mild winter?

Yes. One night of hard frost is enough to cause damage, and that single night is never fully predictable. The effort for this preparation is small, while the cost of a cracked tap or line can add up quickly.

I have a frost free outdoor tap, do I still need to drain it?

A frost free tap has its valve set deeper in the wall, so the coldest part of the pipe stays inside. The hose you connect to it still holds water though, and that water still freezes. Always disconnect the hose and let it drain, even with a frost free tap.

See it in your own garden first

While your garden is ready for winter, this is also a nice moment to start dreaming about spring. Upload a photo of your garden on gardenworld.app and view a free example of a new design with plants that suit your garden. The detailed image with a full plant list costs 7.99 euros, one time only, no subscription.