Well, depends on a few things - the size of your garden, when you want to water, and how much water the lawn uses. I made a PVC system that is setup to an automatic timer that waters for 15 minutes every other day. I put 1/16" holes along the pipe right where the stem of plants are to ensure the water is only used at those spots. Works pretty well - but now I need to find a decent low-pressure timer that I can use to hook to my rain barrels for watering the garden this year. The timer I have requires quite a bit of pressure to push through the timer - not sure why there can't just be a timer like a ball valve that directly opens the flow of water instead. Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog

I use both. We have a large property. The bamboos are rather thirsty plants and do better with soaker hoses. My garden beds are densely planted - drippers are not a viable solution - if something were to go wrong, it would be a nuisance hunting for the source of the problem. So soakers go in there too. I use drippers for containers and also for spot irrigation of plants that are isolated from the main beds. Some of my soakers have been in the ground for 10 years, and are still working fine. They are not supposed to last that long, but with annual flushing and the odd repair jobs, I have not had to buy any new soakers in the last 3 years. Do not use the tiny 1/4 inch soakers - they do not work well, clots up easily, and can't be repaired. As for the drippers, I use a type of dripper head with completely adjustable flow, from zero to up to 13 gallons per hour. Lee Valley Tools sells them as B. & D. Shrubbler Spikes, and bought in bulk packages, they are the most economical I can find - at abut 75c a piece. They are supposedly the most used drippers in commercial applications. At 30 psi of pressure, and maximum flow rate of 13 gph, it throws out a circular spray covering 360°, to a radius of as much as 2 feet. Turned down low, it acts as a slow dripper. It is this flexibility that is the next most appealing feature. I do not have to select different drippers with different flow rates for different sizes of containers - something which turn out to be a real pain with fixed flow drippers I had used previously. I use them for containers as big as the 20 gallon box to the small 1 gallon nursery containers. The adjustable flow rate also makes it simple to deal with variations in flow and drops in pressure down the main supply line. The third appeal is that it will never (and i do say never)block permanently since the spray head is controlled by a screw cap that can be removed completely for cleaning. coverage. The fourth reason I love them is that they are tough and durable. Except for about 1/2 dozen where the inlet pot has been snapped off by an over zealous gardener (me!), the 200 or so scattered in my garden are all working well inspite of neglect and occassional abuse (by my lawn mower!). The othe advantage is that it does not seem to suffer frost damage - as long as the system is well drained and the caps are then screwed on tight. They come on a 6 inch spike - which is another reason I love them - they are difficult to lose. I manage to get by with a 6 station timer. The beauty is that once set, I don't have to do anything except a weekly inspection. I also use a siphon device to feed soluble fertilisers down the line. Keep in mind that if you want to do this, make sure that you have a reliable back flow preventer valve in the circuit.

I use 1/2 inch pipe for my header lines. The reason is I bought about 400 feet of it along with several 100 dollars of 1/2 in irrigation fittings at an auction for $12, 8 years ago and I have been using it ever since. I have each of my hoop buildings on its own zone. Then every one of my patches is set up on its own header line. I have never had problem with getting enough water to them. I use hose splitters and usually water 3 or 4 zones at once, depending on the number of runs. My big high tunnels had 6 beds in it with 3 or 4 runs of drip tape 48 feet long for example. For a vegetable garden that changes every year, Drip tape, T-tape, Aqua-Traxx, (Many different names) is the way to go. Pennies a foot especially when you buy it in 5,000-6,000 foot rolls. I get 3 or 4 years out of the stuff, if you are careful and the emiters don't get plugged. Jay

I am a drip irrigation hobbyist rather than an "expert," but I'll tell you what my experience has been. 1) For one, I would certainly put the backflow-preventer, filter, and pressure regulator downstream of the timer, as there will be additional pressure losses through the valves and turns of the timer. So yes, that means a backflow-preventer, filter, and pressure regulator for each line, in order. I actually had high-quality hose bibs with built-in backflow prevention installed about a decade ago during some remodeling work, so now I only need a backflow device if working on a system for other people. Many municipalities are requiring backflow prevention hose bibs to protect the water supply from contaminants, so this might be something to consider as well. 2) So yes, by using the pressure regulator after the timer, lines 3 and 4 can be attached to regular garden hoses at full pressure. 3) I routinely use high-quality garden hose (contractor-grade hoses, or Craftsmen black all-rubber hoses) to transport water to my drip irrigation systems that are 100' or more from my water sources. Since you are limited on the run-length of the 1/2" poly tubing due to static pressure loss along the length of the run, using a garden hose to get to the area to be irrigated is the only way I know how, short of installing a new water line. -Kris