Hi Linnea,

It depends on your soil. For instance, if you have very well draining soil, the moisture from the soaker hoses will not disperse as much when it soaks into the ground. If you have heavier soil, the moisture will spread more as it soaks into the ground. It also depends on the needs of the particular perennials you're working with and the size or spread of their individual root systems. You may want to go closer to plants that need more water and farther away from plants that don't require as much water. Likewise, you may want to give a plant with a larger and wider root system more room than a plant with a smaller more narrow root system. That's one of the great things about using soaker hoses. You can actually adjust to the water needs and the root spread of the plants.

I highly recommend that you do a little experiment to determine the spacing for your soaker hoses. Lay down a soaker hose in an area of your garden and cover it with mulch just like you'll be doing when you make your final installation. Turn it on for what you think will be a good amount of watering time and then dig into the soil and check it out to see how far down the water reached and how wide the water spread.

Personally, I think soaker hoses are great. I've had 4-5 50-foot sections in one of my gardens for 5 years now. Before I attached them, I took out each of the round plastic pieces with the little hole in the middle and I added a rubber washer at each connection. Even in the hottest days of summer, I water the garden no more than once every 3 days, but I keep the water on for about 1.5 hours. Basically, I train the roots systems of the perennials to grow deeper down. I find that this forms a more healthy and effective root system that is more adaptable to periods of draught and is larger and more effective at pulling up more nutrients from a larger area of soil.

I know that the labels say not to connect more than 100 feet end-to-end, but if you pull out those plastic pieces you can connect more than that. At least, that has been my experience. However, if you're only connecting 2 lengths then you might not want to take out the little plastic pieces. Otherwise the soaker hose may break from too much water pressure. Make sense?

Best of luck to you!

Steve

This, from My Love, Mr. Hose Expert:
First, put a four line distributor (costs about $30)at the end of your source hose next to the bed you want to irrigate. next, connect each soaker hose to the distributor. each hose should water 6-12" on either side of the run of soaker hose. we space ours 12"-20" apart. if your water pressure is sufficient, 100' of a run - should be fine, but you will want to test them. we do NOT bring ours in in the winter; no need. We have had this system down for 10+ years. unfortunately, we began with a stupid and very expensive drip hose system from gardener's supply. but that has all been replaced w/ soaker hoses, which cover the entire arboretum and work MUCH better.

Caveat: you need to get used to LOOKING for the hose every time you dig. In spite of this great and wise advice, WE puncture ours all the time and My Love has to add a repair piece that is a plastic insert/coupler to rejoin the 2 split hose pieces.(hardware store item.)

congrats! important step forward!!
best,
mindy

Steve, what little piece are you talking about? I recently bought some soaker hoses, and the only thing inside the connector was a washer. It might have been a bit stiffer than most washers I've seen, but I just assumed it was still a washer.

I'm interested because I have three lengths hooked up, and I'm starting behind the eight-ball because I have to run 100' feet of garden hose just to connect to the soakers. Plus my well system has rather low pressure to begin with. So I'd like to know what you mean, if it will give me more pressure.

Thanks!
:)
Dee

Mindy: a couple of questions for you no bringing it in for the winter?! Wow and youÂre Zone 5 like I am. That would sure save a lot of work. What about water freezing in the hose? Where do you find the 4 line distributor? I found the Y connector at the box store where I bought the hoses.

I should have said in my first post that the soaker hoses I am talking about are the inexpensive soft porous black rubber kind, not some fancy system with connectors and emitters and such. IÂve looked at those a couple of times and decided I didnÂt want to deal with anything so complicated.

Not sure if this is what the responders were thinking of: thought IÂd better clarify.

We're definitely on the same page with the type of soaker hose. No problem there. Most of them have a little plastic stopper with a small hole in it that you can leave in or take out. It sounds like yours does not have that. Again, no worries.

I also leave mine out all year, but it is best to keep them covered by mulch. Exposure to the sun will lessen their longevity. Since they're porous, the water doesn't stay in them so you don't have to worry about water freezing in them.

Many of the places where you find the Y-connects will also carry a four-way splitter that Mindy referenced. It works a lot like the Y-connect, but it can split the water into four different hoses. Very cool.

Again, best of luck!

Steve

And an aside perhaps --- some brands or materials or something, will get brittle and snap when cold. I cracked a new, unused, soaker hose just moving it within a cold garage. If you are leaving them out for the winter let the sun warm them up before you manipulate them unless you have some way of knowing how they react in the cold.

linn,
the fancy emitter etc hard poly hoses are called DRIP hoses, not soaker hoses. so you have communicated perfectly.
My Love gets the 4 way unit(made by Gardena) at a hardware store.

i don't think water CAN freeze in the hose because the hose is porous (= water goes out)!!

p.s. even great gardeners have misunderstood about the bringing- in issue. we first learned about those disappointing DRIP hoses from none other than the amazing Fred McGourty (director, brklyn botan gdn; author, etc etc) and he told us he brought in his hosing(which was NUTS for his size property PLUS Gdnrs Supply(fred's vendor) said we definitely didn't have to bring them in).......
best,
mindy

I also leave my soaker hoses outside year round. With the mulch layer on top, it is way too much work to move them around every year.

I am on a well, have lower pressure, so I let my hoses run longer when watering with them. I don't seem to get much water spread from them, probably because of lower water pressure. I put the hose in right beside the plant, to ensure plant getting enough water. I run hose weekly, for quite a while, mulch around plant is damp, on each garden bed. Seems to be adequate except under the Oak tree who drinks a lot of water. That bed may get watered twice a week if not rained on. Easy to let run at night, not using the well then anyway. I never turn the faucet on all the way, so it runs the storage tank of well dry. Night watering with soaker doesn't get the leaves of plants wet for spots or mold like sprinkling does.

I made my own 4way hose feeder with 3 of the cheaper Y units. The plastic Ys were $1.49 each, so $4.50 against almost $30 for a one-piece brass 4-way unit. Each of the Ys has two on-off switches, one for each of the 4 pieces of hose running off the home made unit. Used the saved money to buy more soaker hose! I have made a couple of these 3Y units, which allows each faucet to have several hoses on it, yet only turn on the one you want. Don't have to screw hoses on and off or use the snap ons. Just open the switch to hose you want to use. The plastic or metal Y is a good piece and fairly inexpensive, even buying several to make a 4 hose unit.

I will suggest you only get the round soaker hoses to use. I have not had good experiences with the flat soaker hose. They seem to get too many spraying spots, like a sprinkler does. Water shoots around, doesn't soak down into the ground. The dog loves it, plays in the spray, but the plants get thirsty.

My Love says to tell you that you WILL need to bring in the 4 way connectors(the Gardena ones are plastic) and the source hoses- both of which can split w/ freezes.

btw, i use various things to hide the bright orange 4 way connector pieces- a garden plaque or piece of garden pottery, or an upside down squat handleless basket.
best,
mindy

Soaker hoses (the round ones, not flat) are made out recycled tires, so they will deteriorate in time and can split if worked when to cold. They should also be used at a very low water pressure - 10 psi maximum - and most home water systems are around 50 psi. The hose should just ooze or sweat - you should never see any visible spray. That is an indication the pressure is too high, evaporation is present and water is not being delivered to plants correctly. You also run the risk of splitting or damaging the hose if the pressure is too high, not to mention wasting the water a soaker is intened to save.

gardengal---if my water pressure is greater than 10 psi, does that mean I can connect more than 100 feet of hose. I have a very long shade garden (300 feet by 20 feet) that my irrigation system does not reach, but that I can access by hose using well water. It is way too developed too even think of installing an irrigation system. I am SO SICK of moving hoses to irrigate it...for the past 3 summers gardening has become more about keeping things irrigated than enjoying the process of gardening---at least half of my garden time is spent irrigating. I decided that this fall when everything was dormant I would put down soaker hoses so I would just have to turn it on once for several hours and be done with it. My well has very good pressure (although I'm not sure of how much, but I know when it runs in various zones in my yard, everything gets watered. I don't worry about freezing because I live in zone 8 in South Carolina. Our droughts have been brutal for the last several years, and I have to figure out a way to deal with this. I have heard great things about soaker hoses..have tried the drip irrigation in the past, but it was not successful...I think it would work for shrub borders, etc., but did not work for me when every year requires a change in in the borders (things die, get too big, don't look right in that spot, want to add some new plant,my garden is simply not static..it's always changing, etc.) What do people do in this kind of situation?

I'm kind of surprised that so many here have had less-than-stellar results with drip irrigation and emitters, etc. I keep reading about how great that system is, and was considering it.

Goodhors, you said: "I don't seem to get much water spread from them, probably because of lower water pressure. I put the hose in right beside the plant, to ensure plant getting enough water."

Along these lines, with a similar situation regarding a low-pressure well, I've been trying to decide whether to lay *more* hose so I can put it closer to the plants, or whether that would just make the run even longer and therefore less effective. I can't decide...

:)
Dee

Thanks for all the advice! This has been so helpful. Good to know this has worked so well for so many. The kind of hose I bought is the porous type. The Y connectors I got (also on sale) are nice substantial metal ones, look like chrome plated brass. IÂm going to go back to get more of everything! The 4 way splitter sounds convenient but if I canÂt find it (given that itÂs fall already) I do have the Y connectors.

IÂm pretty sure I see what you mean, goodhors, about connecting 3 Y units to make 4 runs of soaker hose. IÂm wondering, though: the 2 inner Y arms donÂt bump into each other?

I have had 50, 75, and 125 feet of the Apex brand soakers on my beds for two years. I have another 50 hose left to place before the season is done. I leave mine out in the Winter as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apex Soaker Hose

I have soakers for at least 4 years, surviving outside with no problem. Nothing got damaged by cold, only occasional cut by shovel, but I am trying to watch for them when I dig around. I repair small cuts with duct tape and large one with plastic connectors from box stores. I had to replace couple of end end pieces as inside spiral got damaged by long use, again inexpensive replacement from box stores.
I have mostly 50 ft soakers, not connected, so some flower beds have up to 4 of them. My experience is to place them fairly close like around 1 ft from each other. I connect one at a time and run for several hrs. Every spring I uncup distant end and flush hose with running water. It is better if they not buried since those small pores can easily clog from soil, then I have to go along the length of the soaker when water is running and kind of "milk it".
When you first buy it I recommend to uncoil it and let it lay flat for day or two, easier to place them later this way.
I would not suggest to use them for small seedlings as dispersal of water is uneven, right next to soaker gets much more water than 10 in from it, and end piece of hose has less pressure as well but with larger plants it does not matter as plants with good established root system will look for their water in their own ingenious ways.

no offense or anything, but you're spending time doing things unneccessarily. if you have POROUS soaker hose, not drip hose w/ holes located every 12" or so, then you do NOT need to flush them. they are POROUS, meaning, all water comes out of them.

and why not save your self more trouble and get yourself a 4 way connector so you don't have to keep connecting and disconnecting hoses to your source hose? i wish i lived next door so i could show you, but get someone to help you if all this sounds too foreign!
best,
mindy

Hi Mindy, I use the faucet for a multitude of hose needs. My 4-way Y connector is left at the garden bed with those soaker hoses. I do remove the plastic Ys for winter, so they don't freeze or break in the cold.

I have SEVERAL beds with 4-way Y connectors on soaker hoses. Three 4-way brand-name connectors would be $90 instead of $13.50 for nine Ys for 3 sets of homemade 4-ways. I run one hose from faucet around, snap onto the Y to water that bed, might use that same hose to fill the birdbath, water the dog buckets or fill the wading pool (also for dog!). Waters the large pots of annuals every other day. That main hose is in motion a lot. I would have to invest a bunch in hose to leave one running to each bed, even with an expensive 4-way connector. I shudder to think what I would need to have invested in 4-way connectors and hose to save a few steps. If I had less distance, fewer beds, less jobs, the single unit might be a better option. Just not good for me and my needs, unwilling to spend so much for one small, breakable part. That would be the day hose got caught on something, dog played with it, jerked unit off the faucet and broke it!

The cheap Ys do a good job, easily replaced if worn or damaged. All the yard hoses have snappy ends, to add hose, sprayer or connect to the Ys on soakers. I do have a fair investment in snappy ends, but a big time saver for me.

Forgot to add that I run all soaker hoses open, when I attach to the Y to water. So all four soaker hoses are working at once. I don't have time to check every hour or two, see if each hose is wet enough now for plantings. I was doing that with the sprinklers. WAY too time consuming and why I went to soaker hoses.

My hoses are long, 100ft each in most cases. I found just the soaker tubing in 100ft lengths, laid it out and put ends on to make my own hoses. No splices! And I am running water to all four of them at once, in each bed, with the 4-way, homemade Y connector. Maybe you only have two or three hoses in a bed, so just one or two Y connector would work for that. Use the Ys to make what suits your needs. My plastic Ys seem to be wide, no interference when screwed together.

Again, I run my soaker hoses on for longer times, sometimes overnight. This is what allows water pressure to build in soakers, seep out and deeply water the plants hose is running alongside. Even with the well, faucet not on full open, the soakers get enough pressure to water their plants well.

Just putting my experiences out, maybe someone can use part of the information for their own benefit. The Ys allow the whole bed to be done at once, with the least amount of handling, checking. Feeding all the soakers in a bed from one point, using homemade or purchased connector with multiple attachments, will make things much easier for the gardener as Mindy pointed out. I love my plants, but that constant sprinkler or soaker change for watering was too much bother. Took all the fun out with timing it. MAYBE I have too many garden beds!

Reading this thread, I found people unhappy with the drip irrigation! Surprising, since that sounded like the epitome of systems from magazines and TV coverage. Glad to know before investing.

Can you tape up sections of the soaker hose so that the water only goes to plants and not in-between? I have a row of bushes that I want to use this with.