In article , Mike Lyle
wrote:

I think a problem with self-winding hoses (though I've never used
one, so of course I'm just guessing) might be that you could find
they need a fair old effort to pull out: they must work on a spring
much stronger than those vacuum-cleaner flexes.

That's not the case as the winding mechanism is geared. In fact they
feed out quite easily and the Hozelock Auto Reel is just heavenly to
use. Not only does it make it easy to keep the hose tidy but you don't
need to lay a hand on a muddy, wet hose while it rewinds automatically.

I see they've just brought out a mobile hose sytem with big wheels and
a towing handle so it's no effort to move around on different terrain
and even up and down steps - and although it isn't automatic rewind,
it's allegedly much easier to rewind than a conventional reel. At 40
metres it's overkill for the OP - and over budget, too.

I wonder if it might be all right to leave the hose extended all the
time, and just move it about a bit when necessary. A black one, if
you can get it, wouldn't be unsightly in most gardens once it had
lost any shine. (I always think black is the best camouflage colour
among vegetation, and can't begin to understand why nearly
everything's coloured green, which shows up like a sore thumb.)

I would never advise anyone - especially anyone frail - to leave a hose
out after use. Too easy to trip over - it has to come into the open at
some point to attach to the tap. Better to at least disconnect the tap
end and hide it out of harm's way.