Oh Dave we havent had any overwatering issues, only under watering here. The first year went great because I had thinner rows but now with my 3 and 4 feet wide rows, I've had to buy more hosing and that's where I ran into a prob with the pressure. When it rains I dont water. I found a 5 outlet manifold at AceHardware.com. My rows arent the same width on either side of my garden (path runs down middle) but on my schematic I counted 10 times I will have to run a hose from side to side right through the path onto the other bed on other side. Sure wish all my hose lengths were the same too but that's not the case. We will need to get some more closures for the ends of some of them. It wont be perfect and my husband understands what he must do to help me lay the hoses. This is great. Today I took the huge hunk of hosing that are all connected from the top shelf. They were stored by the gardener for the winter, still all connected in one long snake. I unscrewed them and looked at the lengths then looked at my schematic trying to see what length will cover which beds, etc. and how the extra will run into the next bed, etc. Tried to visualize the manifold in the center left with 5 hoses coming off it. I cant see if I will a 4 outlet or 5 outlet but with a 5 I'll be safe. I noted that I could use a Y and another 250 ft rubber hose back to the site if the 5-manifold doesnt work with single hose. However if this 5-manifold fails, I have another spigot on opposite side of home, I could always run another 250 ft hose from that side. Trying to minimize costs is all, I'll try one thing at a time.

Dave, you will need to check your local codes for the type of backflow preventer required. In my city, I had to get a double bfp, (HomeDepot had it for about $75). If you do not install one, yard water will be siponed into your home (yuck!) HD is clearancing the Toro 4 zone controllers for less than $30 right now (great deal), and the solenoid valves are about $10 each. As for pipe diameter, depends on the the length of the run. Long runs need bigger diameter piping. If in doubt, go bigger. You do not want to have to do this twice. Copper inside and Poly out will work fine!

Hi all, Here is my $0.02, a pressure gauge(cheap) to test the pressure at your house outlets is a great idea. This is a check for your house pressure regulator in usually in your garage. The pressure for the house should be 40 to 60 psi with this regulator. If the house pressure is higher than 60 psi the house regulator can be adjusted (screw adjustment). Your house appliances can't take high pressure. If the the pressure can't be adjusted replace house regulator. If your system comes off the line from the street it is before the house pressure regulator and needs to be regulated separately from the house for pressure to what ever your needs are. Most irrigation systems for large yards utilize the this higher pressure side to decrease the need for extra zones which is more economical. The drip tapes, drip hoses and garden hoses usually have an operating pressure listed. Next splitters divide the volume of water or flow into how many branches you have. To find flow from a faucet fill a 5 gal bucket from the faucet and record the time to fill to 5 gal. Calculate the flow or gpm or gph. This is the total amount you have to divide into splitters for your given pressure. Each hole, emitter,sprinkler head uses up some system pressure as the water moves down the line. If the pressure loss along the tape is greater than your system pressure you will be over watering some plants to get the right amount to the plants at the end of the line no matter how many splitters you have. This latter info is necessary to design automatic systems or if you wish to know the amount of water you are giving plants and don't want to take a long time watering your system by hand. BTW I thought it was City or County code to use a back flow prevention device. They are usually part of the valve system shut-off. I highly recommend having a BFP in your system. If there is a broken line in your garden and is flooding and someone in your house starts a bath or shower which changes the pressure at the faucets the dirty water can be sucked back into the house contaminating the house piping not to mention the city system. Similar to a hose end sprayer taking up fertilizer from the attached jar. Hope this was helpful. Aloha

When I started my garden, I used soaker hoses. The roses were babies and the circles of hose around them were small. Then the roses started growing and compost and mulch had been put down several times on top of the hoses. Pulling the hoses up in order to enlarge the circle around each rose was a pain in the butt and tricky, often tearing the roots. The most serious issue with soakers is the type of soil you have. In clay soil the water from the soaker will spread wider before it flows downward. In sandy soil it doesn't spread as far before gravity pulls it down, so more circles of hose are needed to wet the same area and more water is required. I found them to be inadequate during the Florida summer with my sandy soil. In the winter of 2010 I switched to micro-sprinklers from Lowe's like Nanadoll described. I like the sprinkler heads, which are basically misters, because I have placed them so that the whole bed is watered, i.e., the whole root zone of the roses and companion plants which keeps the soil cooler and the microbes happier with no dry areas. It's a very flexible system in that connections are easily plugged if not needed, moved or added on. The different radiuses mean there is very little overspray and wasted water. My only problem with the micro system has been the squirrels. They chew into the connectors (and regulators, valves, hose-end converters, etc), creating geysers, loss of pressure and dry garden beds, so if you run the system while your still asleep (like I do) unless you test the system regularly, you won't know you have a problem until the plants start to decline. I have had to bury the connectors or wrap them in hardware cloth to protect them from the %^#%@$* squirrels. I also wrapped the 1/4" lines going to the pots because the squirrels would cut them. They chew off the top on the shrubblers (they spray in a wagon-wheel pattern) which creates a geyser. Also, some of the little connectors between 1/4" tubing & the 1/2" poly are tricky because there is a right way and a wrong way to insert them in the poly. If you insert the wrong end into the poly, it's not a secure connection and it will pop off - uh-huh, creating a geyser. So there is a learning curve to this system, but once you get the hang of it, it's great. I'm very happy with my micro system. I only have a .17 acre lot (60x125) that is all garden, and I used at least 400' of 1/2" poly. The great thing is that you can easily extend it which I have done. Pressure has not been a problem, and I have sprinklers about every 6' on both sides of the beds. But I have learned to despise squirrels with a deadly (I wish) hatred since they also chew the canes on my climbers constantly. Sherry Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...