Y our Irrigation SystemsI

Its very important to find the perfect location for your garden, a place that gets lots of sun. Next, your soil needs to drain well & and also contain enough compost to hold some of the water. Next, is the fertilizer. You need to add some kind of food for the plants. Next, you need a watering system that delivers water that is easy enough for the gardener. Preferrably, drop by drop, watering to hellp save our water. This is very true for places that never get rain(Texas). What do you use for your irriagation? Is it PVC pipes or Soaker Hoses? Which is the best? Can you just turn the system on, & forget it? I am in the process of installing something, & I would like to hear some pros & cons. Behillman

I think I've got a real good system for watering. My garden is 35' x 50', it's quite a ways from the house, and it's bordered with railroad ties with the garden soil inside raised a bit from years of compost additions.

With metal brackets, I attached 3/4" PVC lines to the top of the railroad ties on the north and west sides (my garden slopes north-to-south). Every 8 feet there's a faucet in the PVC lines, and when I plant I run all kinds of configurations of 1/2" soaker hoses from those faucets to my plants. I always fix it so every plant in my garden is served by a soaker hose, and by using various couplings, tees, end plugs, and so forth the layout of the soaker hoses changes every season. Thing is, when I plant I add a soaker hose to serve those new plants or seeds right then - so there's no need to mess with it the rest of the season.

I stretch a hose from our backyard faucet to the intake of those PVC pipes, and there's a "Y" valve where the hose goes into the PVC. This lets me run the hot water from the hose out onto the ground before switching the "Y" valve to serve the PVC pipes, faucets, and soaker hoses. Don't want to run hot sun-heated hose water onto my plants.

I'd like to run an underground line out to my garden so I could have a faucet out there and not mess with the hose, but that will be a major project. I'd have to run the line far enough underground it wouldn't freeze and we've got lots of rocks, so for now I just use the hose. Other than that though, it's a great system. When I've got all the faucets serving the soaker hoses adjusted the way I want them, I can water every plant in the garden by opening one valve.

I bought 3 soaker hoses from Walmart for about $7 each and connected them end to end. Then I arranged them up and down the rows of my garden to cover everything that is planted there. (This is my fall/winter garden - greens, etc.) Then I ran a regular garden hose from the nearest faucet and connected it to one end of the soaker configuration. I go out every couple of days and turn on the faucet, let it run an hour or two (except for the time I FORGOT) and then turn it off. Easy as pie and works well for my garden. Next year, if my spring/summer garden is larger, I can just add another soaker hose or two.

By the way, behillman, my dad has been enjoying your okra all summer. Takes him back to his childhood when his mama would cook a big pot of field peas and okra together. From now on, I plan to plant okra every summer. It is the most low maintenance vegie I have ever planted! (Sorry for chasing this rabbit.)

A timer can be connected at the faucet for the systems also. They cost around 40-50 dollars and are worth every penny, in my opinion. They run all season on one set of batteries. They need to come inside in the winter for protection. For me, laying out the system is one half of the project. The other half is automating it.

My 6-cycle timer cost $10 at Home Depot...runs on batteries...

Gymgirl-such a good deal. I'll be watching for that. What brand?

I'll check when I get home and let you know!