DIY--hanging basket watering system

Earlier this year, my sweet, handy Man rigged up a system to allow me to water our hanging baskets without taking risking my life by trying to climb 5 feet up a ladder while wielding a dirty, slippery water hose and aiming it at a target with a 9" diameter that is another 5 feet above my head.

What I'm sayin' is, those chickies are high and I can't water them without drenching myself in the process.

This DIY project was ALL him {seriously, I think he man-grunted from when I first mentioned it all the way through to the finish}...my only job was to pick out the cute baskets and pretty flowers.

Because that is how God intended it to be, praise Him!

I have no idea how he did it or what all the parts are called, but I'm gonna give it my best shot to explain this project. Remember, I'm not in charge of the mechanics around here...just the aesthetics.

Okay, here goes...

First, you have a double-faucet ma-do-hickey that allows you to water the yard AND the hanging baskets without schlepping the hose from one end of your kingdom to the other OR taking a spontaneous outdoor shower while trying to remove the sprinkler head.



The green hose goes out to the yard sprinkler, the smaller translucent hose goes to the baskets. Each hose has it's own 'on-off' thing-a-ma-bob so that you don't have to water both areas at once. You turn off the yard hose, turn on the basket hose, and then turn on the faucet, if you just want to water the baskets.

It's a long way from the faucet, on the side of the house, to the hanging baskets on the front porch {and did I mention that they are high?}, so he had to use several lengths of the mini-hose to run from the faucet, up the side of the porch and across the top. He connected them with that little connector thingy.

See how far it stretches? He used cup hooks to guide it across the wall and keep it from sagging.

Then he used this three-way connector do-a-ma-jibby {Be sure you use that term when you ask about it in your local home-improvement store. Bat your eyes when you say it. You'll get LOTS of help.}. This allows you to continue the flow of the water across to other hanging baskets while also watering the plant below.



Like so.



Here it is in action. See the water spilling out of the hose that is looped through the basket's chain to point directly at the top of the plant?

It's also streaming out of the bottom, which means it's time to stop taking pictures and turn the water off.

I apologize for the dreary looking pictures. I had to take them at night. I am not a professional photographer, much less a professional night-time photographer, so I was having light issues. And weird gecko issues. And also flying insect issues. I have spent this entire post typing while itching my arms, legs, and head because I SWEAR TO YOU THEY ARE CRAWLING ON ME!!!!

For more DIY ideas, head over to Kimba's place for the party. It's an indoor party so it should be bug-free.

Lucky you.