My experience with drip irrigation like you are talking about is remote--I toured a setup in Arizona a number of years ago, and my next door neighbor converted his irrigation system to drip a couple years ago, which he kindly let me help with on occasion. So, take my comments as being from more of an observer. The drip systems are pretty much entirely plastic. There may be some metal, but it isn't common. These systems are rated for a useful life of 15-20 years, so the corrosion resistance of the plastic would give it an advantage over metal. I have been doing some surface drip on some trees for probably 7 years now with a used drip system. Each zone is controlled with a plastic ball valve and I have had no problems with these valves. The T tape that I have seen is buried from 8 to 16 inches deep as you don't want to water the surface of the soil except for germination. After that, you want to keep the surface dry to help control weed germination. In addition, the tape is buried deep enough that it won't be damaged by plowing or other field operations, and being deeper helps to hide it from moles and gophers which love to chew on the tape. If you do put it shallower, you could probably pick it up in the fall and store it inside when used on a small area such as a garden. I wouldn't think it would move in the soil, although if the lines get moved or kinked, when they get pressurized they will straighten out. I have also seen drip lines laid out on vegetable crops on bedded rows and covered with black plastic. Don't know if this was T tape, though. However, with the surface use, it appeared the plastic was removed and the tubes rolled up after the crop was off. Don't think there was anything used to hold the tubes in place, though. When it comes to the fall, my neighbor blows out the main lines and the drain line at the other end. He doesn't try to blow out the T tape itself as it has the emitters so has very little to no water in it when not running, and if ice does form it can expand inside the tubing without problem since the tubing is pretty well empty. Whether or not you use a quick connect for blowing the lines out depends on how much time you want to spend blowing the lines out in the fall. Since my neighbor is using settled and filtered ditch water, at the end of each daily water cycle on each zone, he opens the drain valve on the drain line and blows water out for a minute or two to help clear any sediment and protect the life of his investment. I have heard many times that the lines should receive some treatment periodically to prevent minerals from depositing in the emitters, and to control any bacteria that may be growing in the tubes to prevent them from forming gooey deposits that will accumulate sediment and plug the emitters. Usually, this is done by injecting sulphuric acid or phosphoric acid into the irrigation water one or more times during the year to achieve the desired pH of the water to remove the mineral deposits. The frequency of this will depend on the mineral content of the water, though. They also use phosphoric acid, which is a weaker acid, but also provides phosphate fertilizer to the plants. Sulphuric acid will also fertilize the soil with sulphur, if it is needed. If you don't treat the lines occasionally, you are likely to end up with deposits that will gradually plug the emitters and shorten the useful life of the tape. In a garden situation where the cost of what you are using is relatively small compared to a field situation, shortening the life of the tubes by a few years may not be a concern, but it will depend on the mineral content and other contaminants in your water. Good luck!

Do you like the Mister Landscaper products & does anyone else have any longterm experience w/ this sort of layout? I purchased the starter kit (50 ft. of tubing, asstd. stakes & drippers, the patio & potted plant kit, & the timer)-I'm going to try & set it up this weekend. I think a system like this might just as efficient or more, as the soaker hoses I currently have in the perimeter beds around the house. I'll move my soaker hoses to the outer edges, & water that way, instead of the intermittent sprinkler water they get now... My yard is a typical suburban rectangle, 103' x 167', just under 1/2 acre, lots of mature trees, so pretty heavily shaded. I value my few sunny spots & try to cram as much in there as I can, & I think if could get a handle on the watering, I could cram in even more plants!

I agree with the others that the holes should be larger; however, I speak from experience on some Severe Weather railing purchased from Lowe's that my "stair" kits were not. As I had special ordered them and the packaging had been rained on, etc, I used a "-b-a-s-t-a-r-d" mill file (Gardenweb apparently doesn't like the word) to enlarge the rectangular hole, actually mostly just to modify the angle of the downslope side of the "hole". The balusters fit snugly, but they look great after 2 years. These railings were pricey, but they look just as good as the day they were installed with no maintenance and are a nice contrast to the ipe on my front porch. Good Luck with your project.

You know...it's funny how such seemingly small things such as drip rails or pull-out breadboards can add such nice subtle touches to kitchens and provide the opportunity to spice things up a bit (translation: to obsess even more)! davidro1 - I wish I could see a pic of what you mean. Trying to imagine this metal! At any rate my contractor's begun cutting wood. Thank you for your thoughts! Rococogurl - I agree with what you wrote about the top pic being nicer and also about contrast in color being better. My contractor brought over one that he made today, out of maple. He did no curving but had it slant slightly downward, subtly, and then it's gently softened on the ends (not too sharp). It extends out further than the sink a bit, like the first pic you and I both like. I think I like contrasty color because it makes the drip rail appear to be more of a deliberate design choice as opposed to a necessity (even though it is)! He's going to make the fat piece thinner then bring it back tomorrow. He aimed for the approximate thickness of the new pull-out cutting board which will be to the right of the sink and up a bit, under the countertop. So not as fat as the pics we've seen but not too thin for my simple kitchen. It also dawned on me today that my sink's probably one of the only ones anywhere (quite literally) that's pushed back so that it's almost flush with the lower cabs (due to needing to meet the wall-mounted faucet at a reasonable place). And that because it's so tightly scribed, the front corners actually appear to be less curved! Crazy huh? So in the end, it might not looks so odd after all!! You can kind of see what I mean by looking in the pic below (though better scribing job this second time around w/ the better contractor). Color question, if you don't mind (the length of this post, that is!): what do you think about making the drip rail match the front of the pull-out cutting board (as opposed to the floors which are original fir and very orange looking)? And what the heck do I do for a color?! My contractor thought stain wouldn't hold up as well as paint. The wood will be maple. I thought a clear satin maple finish might be nice - on both the drip rail as well as the front of the pull-out cutting board (which will have a cute little knob of some sort, I think) though that's only cause I can't think what else to do. Black seems too dramatic; a dark brown or cherry finish won't match anything in the kitchen since my butcher block tiny island has a maple top, much to my disappointment (Craigslist...I wish it were a dark-topped Boos island but oh well!). But will a clear varnish look bad? The kitchen main colors including cabs will be some version of BM's Fieldstone gray (a gray w/ hint of green color) along with some cream color (and perhaps some white). I like the cheerfulness of the drip rail in the link below (at the bottom). I have no updated pics but I'll include a quite older pic to give you an idea in the daylight. There have been several improvements since. Ignore the brown bowl which is never usually in there. Thank you! Here is a link that might be useful: