You are well to worry about clogs from the well water. The first component in your system should be a fine mesh filter. Get a "y"-shaped one with a small valve on the end that you can periodically open to flush out the debris. Slopes are problematic for drip systems. You'll want to use pressure-compensating emitters. This means that the emitters on the bottom of the slope will control the amount of water they release, even though the water pressure in the system is greater at the lower level. This allows the pressure to build and send the water to the higherplants. However, when the system turns off, all of the water remaining in the system will drain out of the lowest points, the emitters on the bottom of the slope. This generally means that the bottom plants get overwatered, or the top plants get underwatered. One easy way to reduce the problem is to run the main drip tube (the one that the 1/4 inch, or "spaghetti" lines, connect to) all the way down the hill without any emitters attached to it. Then run it back up the hill, and tee off at regular intervals to run across the slope to the plants. Put a bend in the tube, like a p-trap under a sink, after each tee. You can also use spring-loaded check valves installed in the tube to hold back the water. You may want to have a seperate system for your hanging plants, they will want more frequent watering and smaller amounts per time than plants in the ground, which should be watered for at least 20 minutes at a time, even up to an hour or more, and only a few times per week. Be sure to use at least two emitters per plant to water the whole root ball, and place them on the uphill side of the roots,so the water runs down. I don't know what they carry at Harbor Feight, but the typical hardware store lines are adequate, as long as the emitters are pressure compensating, and you get a good filter. You won't be able to clean pressure compensating emitters if they get clogged, they'll need to be replaced. I typically get my parts from commercial irrigation suppliers, such as Ewing, Horizon, and John Deere; they can give you good advice, and the small amount more that you may pay will get you more reliable materials. If you are in a snow zone, there are freeze considerations they can help you with as well. Good Luck! Tim

Todd, Man you are doing the hard stuff. Two ibuprofen is better. Here is the hydraulics. Approximately 0.5 psi for every foot of elevation the water level is from the garden surface. For example if the height difference is 10 feet you will experience 5 psi at the garden outlet pipe. The pressure will decrease as the height of the water level decreases. In low pressure water distribution pipe sizes need to be bigger because your flow velocity will be low. See what flow your system will deliver by filling a 5 gallon bucket up and timing the fill. Do it several times and average the gallons per minute. You will now know how long it will take to deliver a certain amount of water to a zone. At least you won't need pressure regulators but probably a filter screen if your going with drip or soaker hoses. Think about pvc with holes drilled into it at what ever spacing you need(I can help you with this). You need to calculate the usage flow rate of the drip tubing or soaker hose to plan correctly for even distribution. Who will coordinate the water regime for the garden? Talk to a local landscaper to help you and you will advertise his name in the garden. Trial and error is a way of learning life. Aloha

I prefer http://www.dripirrigation.com/ Their shipping costs are cheap for the lightweight stuff (emitters, couplers, etc). If you ever need heaver hoses and stuff, you're probably better off getting that at the local home improvement stores. Those kits are pretty nice to start out with. You can always add to it as your situation changes. As far as simplest program. The drip tape, t-tape and soaker hoses are the easiest because you don't have to fuss with all the individual emitters. Of course that takes some of the flexibility out of things, but it's not a bad way to go.

Sorry for replying so late to you all. I worked on installing this last Tuesday and finished it up yesterday after work. I ended up putting two 1 gallon drippers on each side of each plant (about 8 to 12 inches from the stem of the plant). I am going to keep an eye on it, but I am really looking forward to not needing to water by hand anymore! I also used some drip lines for my tree and larger bushes.