I know these are tangents from your soaker hose question, but hopefully you'll find some info useful: I don't know what kind of weeds you have or how extensive the problem is. But the key to getting rid of weeds and keeping an area weed free is planning far enough ahead and constant maintenance. I don't recommend Roundup, you don't need it. Weed eating is a futile effort unless your taking out the roots as well. So long as the roots are still in the ground, most of your weeds will continue to come back. You need to completely eliminate the entire plant: top and bottom. Depending on what "weeds" were in your soil, if you tilled, you most likely brought up dormant weed seeds that were too deep to sprout and broke up stems (crab grass for instance) into smaller pieces where the nodes still sprouted. If tilling is the chosen method, then do so at least six weeks in advance, and preferably months in advance in order for the soil tilth to build back again as well as for dormant seeds to sprout so you can skim them to kill them as they come up. Do this a few times for a couple of weeks until they've subsided, then you're ready to plant. Next you need to mulch and mulch well (2-3 inches). This will prevent further sprouting of weeds and prevent migrating wind born seeds from taking root in your soil. If you plant vegetable seeds, you can mulch with a thin layer of shredded leaves or grass clippings or compost or straw, etc. When the seedlings get 3-4 inches tall you can mulch at a greater thickness and more as they get larger. If you want to go the newspaper route, try Freecycle.org and ask for newspaper. You might be pleasantly surprised. There's probably someone out there (like me) with plenty of newspaper to share, especially if it's going to good use and getting recycled. You can also call your local newspaper, tell them what you need it for and ask if they have any discards. You need to do layers of 8-12 damp (soak them in a bucket of water first) sheet, then cover with soil. If you don't it will dry and fly away. But if you can cover with soil, or mulch, it would work. You can also try cardboard. Call local businesses for both. You can also try black plastic mulch, but it won't add organic matter to your soil. The issue with straw are seeds which might sprout and cause problems. It works great, just make sure you know what you're getting: When using hay or straw, you need to know your source and exactly what is in the bales. Hay and Straw Glossary A popular organic mulch, hay is commonly used to protect soil and plants from the elements, to line pathways, and to address various needs in the garden. What many people don't realize, however, is that various products are often labeled as "hay" at garden centers, but there are many different types of hay and straw that are commonly sold in bales. While they are easily confused, it's important for gardeners to become familiar with the differences. Salt hay Salt hay, or Spartina patens, is a grassy plant that grows in salt marshes and wetlands. MIt is useful for keeping weeds from growing in paths, preventing runoff, and keeping soil from turning into mud whenever it rains or the garden is watered. A layer of salt hay will keep soil moist and encourage worms to come to the surface, which will help to aerate the soil. It also makes an attractive path to walk on between garden rows. Salt hay is an ideal all-purpose mulch because its seeds won't grow away from salt water so it won't germinate in your garden. Golden straw What is commonly termed "Golden straw" is either oat straw, Avena, or wheat straw, Triticum. This straw is a by-product of the process of separating oat or wheat seeds from their stalks. Golden straw is often used as bedding in horse stalls; because there are no seeds, the horses won't eat it. This straw spreads nicely, and the lack of seeds means there is no risk of it germinating in your garden. It can be used in the same way as salt hay. Wheat straw An excellent choice for straw for use in the vegetable garden. Lay down six inches in height in the fall then direct sow seeds in the spring. No need to dig. There will be a handful of weak sprouts from seeds, just pull them out. Feed hay Just as its name implies, feed hay is used to feed livestock. Though inexpensive and plentiful, it is not a good choice for use in gardens because it is full of seeds. The main ingredient of feed hay is alfalfa, Medicago sativa. It also frequently contains flowers and seeds from many other plants and weeds such as clover and golden rod. These seeds are likely to germinate, resulting in a garden full of weeds rather than flowers and vegetables. Soil Solarization is another technique you can use, using clear 6 mil plastic. It has been around for a long time. It's effective for those who have patience and can plan ahead. A drawback is that it kills beneficial organisms and bacteria in the soil. What I do is lay roof shingles over any area where I want to create a bed. Within two weeks vegetation underneath is weak and pretty close to dead. I wait until the soil is crumbly underneath, sink my spade in and start hand sifting and pulling out everything then I crumble it back in the spot along with compost so it's light and airy and never walk on it again. Then I'll mulch with leaves and/or grass clippings. Usually the latter. I don't do huge areas of space at a time. Literally just lay them on top of the grass and overlap them a bit so light doesn't get thru. After a couple of weeks and after a rain check to see if the soil is "friable" (soil crumbles in your hands). Length of time after a rain will depend on whether your soil is sandy, clay, etc. For me it can be 2-3 days in certain parts of the yard, 1 day in another area of the yard. When you lift the shingles, you'll see there is little to no grass and what you can see is yellow or white. Sink a spade in and lift up, then just get in there with your hands and fingers and take a chunk and pull out the roots. This works fabulously with bermuda grass because the main runner stem is in tact but the roots have died off so all you have to do is follow the runners. Sometimes they're 4 feet long. But they're soooo much easier to get out! Much less work than tilling and sifting. Then crumble the soil lightly back into the spot with your fingers. As you crumble take out out any weed matter and into the compost pile they go. This is the best time to incorporate compost or any other soil amendments. Now don't walk on the area or you'll compact the soil. I'll take out large rocks as well since we grow rocks around here. I've responded to "Wanted: Rocks" on freecycle.org a couple of times so now they're gone and have found use to fill holes under fences so dogs don't escape. The problem with tilling bermuda grass is that when you do that, you create a lot of little pieces that are not easy to find and get out without a sifter. If one tiny piece with a node gets left behind, it'll take root and take off and you have the same problem all over again.

Well, in my 30 odd years of growing roses, I have used just about every watering method known to man. Believe it or not, soaker hoses do deliver a lot of water, depending on the type you may be using. The term soaker hose is sort of generic, I mean it covers everything from the green hose with the holes in the top turned upside down to leaky pipe. Some nursery supply houses even sell a canvass one that really puts out the water. It is very hard to tell exactly how much you are putting out, but when I used them, I would normally turn the water on for an hour, and see how the roses looked after a couple of days of that. If they looked OK, I would use the one hour interval, if they were too wet, I would cut back to 30 minutes or go up 30 minutes to another hour, if they were too dry. After a time, I put one of those battery operated electronic water timers on the system, so that I wouldn't have to control it myself. The timer would come on when I wanted and be on for the requisite amount of time and then cut off, every day or every other or whatever. By using the water timer, I wouldn't have to be there to control anything, and the roses would still get watered. What you choose to do is really up to you. I don't use soaker hoses anymore, because I have found something I like better, and am sure that my time interval is just right. We are under water restrictions here, so I have to be more careful now.

Sounds perfectly normal to me and yes these are designed to be run at intervals, the length of which is chosen by you. They are very effective I have had particularly good luck using soaker hoses with tomatoes, which grow better when watered this way. To determine, with accuracy, how much water my soaker hose emitted I coiled it up on top of a window screen which I laid over a plastic kiddie pool. I then ran the hose for ten minutes and poured the water from the pool into 5 gallon pails and found the flow rate in GPM. This enabled me to control carefully my water applications.

one of the best greenhouse growers i ever met.. let his plants.. on a routine basis.. wilt.. before watering again ... the theory was.. it encouraged root growth .. there is no reason you cant do the same ... just watch.. observe.. etc .. my rain barrel .. weep hose project failed.. as there was not enough HEAD PRESSURE ... to actually let the water weep out.. at the far end of the hose ... this became readily apparent.. as i tried to attach a new length ... the next step in your knowledge.. is to use actual engineered drip irrigation ... where release is predictable along the whole length ... but its not a rain barrel thing ... come to think of it.. i also ended up with mosquito larvae in the whiskey rain barrel .. that was the end of that experiment ... i plugged the spigot.. added a pump.. and had goldfish in it for a few years... IN MI ... winter and all ... [a good heater too.. lol] ken