"Charles" wrote in message
...
I have a long, narrow planting area that I think would be a good place
to use a soaker hose. I tried one, the area at the head end got
flooded, at the distant end got very little water. I used pull
pressure from the hose bib, it seemed to me that the hose should carry
the water and that the amount leaking out should only be affected by
the porosity.

did I get a bad hose? Are there good ones?

Using a pressure regulator at the supply end helps to equalize the
distribution. You also might want to think about using drip tapes
instead. The higher flow (40 gph/100 ft or 60 gph/100 ft) drip tapes
are less likely to become plugged up due to residual salts from
evaporation. You need to run the tapes in a straight line - can't curve
them like the hoses but it works okay with a little planning. Companies
like Dripworks
www.dripworksusa.com
carry a pretty comprehensive assortment of soakers, drip tapes, and
accessories and also have lots of useful information about
installation. -Olin