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Old 16-02-2005, 12:55 PM
dps
 
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Soaker hose comes in two types: a regular hose with holes poked into it
and a hose made from recycled tires that is moderately porous, so it
leaks everywhere. The first type will send small jets out either in one
direction or in all directions, depending on how the holes are punched.
These jets can create small erosion areas, but they're not generally
serious. The recycled tire type is good for soaking an area, but has a
finite lifetime of only a couple of years on the average. Being on the
surface, it gets chewed by rodents, particularly during times of drought.

If you're going to bury something, it might as well be more conventional
inground irrigation tubing. Home Depot carries it, as well as the
emitters, which range from sprays to rotary jets. You can also get drip
emitters which can be placed adjacent to each shrub, so you aren't
wasting water on the weeds in between. You can get really fancy and
install a timer valve to do it all automatically. However, this wastes
water since it waters on a schedule, not according to need.

While you're about it, it isn't that hard to install more outdoor
spigots unless your basement is completely finished and you don't want
to run pipes through it. Put in as many as you can. I generally double
them up, placing two spigots right next to each other. One can have a
hose permanently attached and the other can be used to fill a bucket.

The soaker hose is the easiest thing to do, but the permanent
installation is the longest lasting thing to do.

If you bury something, you will want to provide for drainage so you can
empty it in the winter. An air compressor is not not necessary if you
have a low spot somewhere. Put a valve at the low spot, unhook the feed
lines at the high end and open the valve. Be sure that you provide
somewhere for the draining water to go, since you want it to drain all
at once. This ensures better drainage of the entire system without
leaving pockets of water. Note that polyethylene tubing will handle
occasional freezing of water, while the pvc pipe will not.

You might want to run a polyethylene tube out to the garden area. Mine
is buried about 2" deep. I drain it for the winter. At the house end I
put a male hose connection on and just attach it to the spigot with a
short length of washing machine hose (double female connections). On the
garden end I put in a short length of pressure treated 2x4 and tie the
hose to it with some plumbing, including a T and two spigots.


Steve wrote:
I have a typical 1500 sq ft ranch home in the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin.
The previous owners let all plantings get wildly out of control and quite
honestly, the entire perimeter of the house was surrounded by larger shrubs
that were not my style.

I removed all the old plantings and started from scratch last year. On all 4
sides of the home there are flower and small shrub beds that basically
surround the home and project about 10 ft out on average. I have re-planted
the majority of this area with new, young, and small plantings. Some shrubs,
some flowers, some grasses, plants, etc.

I also have two larger garden areas in the yard and a vegtable area behind a
shed. These also need revitalizing but I've only gotten to these areas
slightly right now.

Now the fun - the home only has one outdoor water spigot so to date all my
watering has been by hand and with 400ft of hose to reach all areas. Yes,
all that hose is a pain, but not bad compared to the time it takes to just
water these areas. I can and likely will install a 2nd and potentially 3rd
outdoor spigot which means less hose handling at once. However, it really
won't cut down my time.

I need to find a way to keep the young plants well watered in much less
time. I have never used soaker or drip arrangements and such and I'm lookin
for info. I would like this year to setup say the soaker arrangment to loop
around and water the perimeter of the house.

How well do these work? How much lenght can I do? Pressure concerns? Can one
splice in non-soaker type tubing when running across areas that need no
water? I'd like to bury it under my mulch and leave it. Is this problematic
or generally ok? Will these things survive well over a winter? I'm willing
to take the time to install a proper system that works well and looks good
while not shifting my time effort into having to maintain the water lines
and connections. I would either via timer or personal effort turn on the
water flow and let it water the perimeter of the house while I water other
areas. I do not want to extend the system to other areas beyond the
perimeter of the house at least for another two to three years. I enjoy
tending to the other areas, just can't handle it all time wise due to
circumstances. Can anyone point me to resources or websites that might help
me learn, install, and answer questions on this? Any good pointers or bad
experiences?

thanks!