Hi dirt tracker! Definately go with the drip irrigation. It takes a bit more up-front effort, but it's so easy to expand and maintain. The soaker hoses are good for a short-term solution, but are problematic to maintain or expand. I keep a few soaker hoses for temporary solutions to new areas, but when I am ready for a permanent solution I go with the drip! I currently have 5 areas under drip irrigation and will add another in the next week (We live on an acreage.) It really doesn't rain here in the summer! I buy pretty much all my drip stuff from the Drip Store (www.dripirrigation.com), supplemented by a few things from Menards. I started with one of their "Large Homeowner Drip Irrigation" kits to get my feet wet. I also bought a 500' roll of 1/2" drip tape with .6 GPH emitters spaced every 12" for my 4' x 6' raised garden beds. I ran the drip tape lengthwise, 3 tapes per 4' x 6' bed with a soilless mix (peat moss/compost/perlite/vermiculite). I might ultimately add one more line per box, but it works for now, so I won't get to it until I finish the new drip areas. I've been doing the drip thing for over a year now, and I LOVE it. It sure beats hauling watering cans around in the sun under 100+ degrees F. If you have any questions about drip irrigation, please feel free to email me directly!

I'm pretty much the same way. It's a bit off topic, that's why I asked but hey it's your topic, so let me see if I can summarize. Here goes.... Oh, if you are interested in the irrigating part of this thread, scroll down, as this is longer than I expected & off topic. Last year, I drove to Biloxi, MS in a car a friend gave me. An 87 Chev Celebrity. With gas prices on the rise my thought was two fold. This got better gas mileage than my F150 plus if any thing happens to it, I could just leave it, rent a car and keep going. If I had the F150, I would feel obligated to pay inflated, out-of-state roadside repairs. Well the car ran fine on the way down. My return trip began on Fri. May 13th at 00:45. I am not superstitious (good thing). After about an hour & half of driving, I began to hear a noise pulled off the highway to check it & the oil. At an idle the knock didn't seem too bad, the oil was good (had it changed before I left). Asked a local for directions, she mentioned go over the "Dolly Parton bridge". So at some point after I crossed the "Dolly Parton bridge" the vehicle emitted a severe knocking noise and lost power. After pulling off to the shoulder in a rural area of I-65 in Alabama (with no street lights), I investigated and found a puddle of oil under the engine. I was happy this did not happen a few miles back in the middle of a long bridge with no breakdown lanes. While I have never had an experience like this before, I knew that the engine was beyond repair. This is when you get that nauseating, sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Pitch black out, somewhere after 2 am, and you just have NO idea where the hey you are. No street lights, no signs to read to tell someone. I grabbed my Cingular cell, happy to have a signal. I dialed 911, The local police transferred me to the Alabama Highway Patrol who informed me if I had AAA, I would have to call them myself. The dispatcher hung up without giving me the local number. I could not locate my AAA card to find a number but checked my cell phone to find a number to the office in CT which luckily had menu options for roadside assistance. After finding out I was in AL, I was transferred to another number. While this dispatcher was trying to determine where I was located (I had absolutely no idea) I saw headlights pull up behind me. Thinking, oh good it is the highway patrol, it turned out to be a well meaning civilian (who appeared to be under the influence) offering me a ride to Montgomery, some 3 hours north. Afraid to admit I did not know where I was, I told him the police wanted to know what mile marker I was at. He informed me I was approx. 6 miles north of the Bay Minette exit. After a few more minutes he insisted if I did not get in his car, he would have to get going. I felt it unwise to get into a car with a strange man in an altered mental status. I thanked him and off he went. The AAA dispatcher contacted a local towing company who called me some time later requesting a mile marker, informing me AAA would only pay him to search for 3 miles and if I was not in that area he would have to stop looking. Despite my best efforts to describe where I was, the tow operator could not determine where I was located. Approximately 10 miles north of the bridge is all I knew but that didnt seem to help. A desolate part of I-65 in Alabama, without lights but plenty of trees and absolutely no other signs or markers. Apparently the entire stretch between Bay Minette and Montgomery is pretty desolate. This would have been a good test for OnStar. During further conversation with the tow operator, he informed me there is one highway patrolman who works 200 miles of the interstate. With fog limiting visibility as time went on, we agreed that if I wanted assistance, I would have to start walking to find a mile marker and call him back. I grabbed a flashlight and began walking north on this lonely unmarked stretch of I-65. Thinking someone might stop if they saw a disabled vehicle with emergency flashers followed by someone walking, I decide to walk in the direction of travel. I flashed my light while walking, hoping someone would stop, maybe a truck driver with a CB radio. Making use of the headlights on the southbound vehicles I checked both sides of the highway, I continued as the flashing lights of my car faded from view. After walking for about 2 miles in the pitch dark with trucks and cars whizzing by at 75-80 mph I happened upon another motorist on the southbound side experiencing car problems with an air conditioning belt. After assisting him with my light, I was able to convince him to give me a ride to the next mile marker. He appeared to be hesitant since my flashing lights were not visible from where we were. It turns out that I was north of the 141 mile marker and the 142 mile marker was missing on both sides of the highway. What are the odds? When tow operator arrived, he agreed the car would need another motor. But said "no one will give you any money for this". I asked about the availability of a used car. After telling me he did not have anything, he advised me that if I was to buy something locally, I would again have problems within 100 miles (no warranty). He said "they do it all the time to people in your situation". I again contacted the local AAA. Their first referral was to Enterprise Rent A Car, who insisted I would have to return the car to Alabama, NOT. I again called the local AAA dispatcher who had to research and call back with a 3 way conference to National Car Rental agent, located in Charleston, SC., who insisted the nearest one-way rentals were only available at the Mobile Airport. The tow operator told me it would be at least an hour drive to the Mobile Airport. I had no idea how I could get to the airport at this time of the morning and began inquiring about rooms in the local area. Hearing my discussion with AAA the tow operator informed me that I have AAA-plus and he could take me up to 100 miles. He said this was within range of the airport. After pulling off to the side of the road and discussing it further, we decided the airport would likely be my best option. It was 4AM and the National counter did not open until 6:30 AM. He agreed to wait so I could unload my luggage. The fun did not stop there but continued with airport police threatening TSA would confiscate my luggage or the vehicle if either were left unattended. Meaning, I could not leave my luggage on the sidewalk while going to the rental counter. I remember saying "hmmm then 'I' won't have to worry about it". Well he didn't think that was funny. If you are the tow operator reading this, I want to Thank You, you were a complete gentleman and a huge help in my time of need. I continued on to visit with my daughter in Orangeburg, SC and a long time friend in Princeton, NC. I had the worst experience of my life at the Sun Moon Inn, Orangeburg, SC but that is a whole story in itself. I would NOT recommend the Sun Moon Inn to anyone. After my daughterÂs friend suddenly passed on in October, I returned to Orangeburg. This time in the F150 with trailer in tow. I am happy to say this trip was w/o incident. Now folks, back to gardening. Ed, it is raining here again today & now again tonight. In fact, there are reports of a tornado touching down in Westchester County, NY and in Fairfield County, CT (Greenwich). Gumby_CT

It's hard to plan for drip by looking at the dirt rather than looking at the plants, and with someone as plant layout-lackadaisical as I am, I really find it easy to plumb for the plants, not for the area they're in. All my beds are sitting outside, raked, waiting, empty (except for some favas), and with long half inch nips poking out of the ground with solid caps on them in two irrigation circuits. There's a bunch of half inch PVC line buried, with some cheap plastic valves here and there to shut off or turn on whole beds. In other words, no irrigation decisions have been made at all but the guts are in place. This is an exceedingly dry location with a great lack of rain, but fortunately we have good water pressure. I will eventually have one micro-tube to each major plant, an embedded emitter line to others like lettuce and sunflowers, and maybe spray to yet others. Everything can use quarter inch tubing pushed on to a drip head's barbs, and I'll decide later what goes where. There's no planning other than the overall infrastructure. The drip parts will all be on for the same length of time (everywhere at once) and if a plant needs more water, it just gets a "larger" end emitter or a second one added. I'd strongly suggest waiting to see what's needed and where it's needed, and working from that reality. Then you may feel it's easier to change your plant layout as needed. Just start with a bunch of quarter inch tubing, an assortment of flag emitters, some tees, and a little Corona. You can do nearly everything with that.

I had a petite space to work with, went with 6 beds 3 feet wide by 5 feet long by 22" high and 3 feet in between the boxes. Picture from early July pasted below. Am glad I allowed 3 feet in between now that plants are growing and flopping over in the paths. Of course the height required extra soil (in my case 8 yards) but so worth it. The tomatoes are loving it and not having to do as much bending is good for my back. I am in my mid-50's and thought a taller bed would be appreciated as I age. I re-purposed some redwood so there was some cost savings there.