Beginner Gardening: Ditching My Soaker Hoses....Going Back To Sprinklers!!!!!!!!, 4 by Ozark

Ozark wrote:
OK, pictures. I don't know what's going on with the USB cable that came with my camera, but the solution was an $8 memory card USB adapter from WalMart.

I laid out this soaker hose system 6 or 7 years ago and it's getting old. Some small repairs are needed every year, and some parts need replacing - but it still works fine and it's a big help to me.

The first picture shows where the garden hose from our well faucet attaches to the PVC grid. It's just a female hose swivel fitting going to 3/4" PVC pipe. Visible in the picture is the "Y" fitting I've always had between the hose and the PVC. I need to replace that because the little plastic valve handles broke off in the heat this summer. The "Y" is there so I can run boiling-hot water from the hose in the sunshine out on the ground, then close the "Y" and direct water to the soaker hoses once it runs cool.

The second picture shows the 3/4" PVC pipe with faucets, and several runs of garden hose/soaker hose attached. This is the east end of my garden where I've harvested potatoes, beets, turnips, and cabbages this year and now it's growing a late planting of sweet corn. This spring I laid out eight rows of those early veggies 36" apart, and after harvesting them I pulled the hoses aside and fertilized and tilled the ground. Then I put the same soaker hoses back in place and planted corn. I'm in the process of weeding and thinning the corn rows and I'll mulch the whole area heavily with grass clippings when that's done. You can see the hoses and soaker hoses now because the mulch isn't covering them yet.

The third picture shows how 1/2" soaker hose fits inside the cut pieces of an old garden hose that I use to span pathways. These are secured by small metal hose clamps from Lowe's.

The last picture shows a soaker hose in place beside one row of corn. This hose and the pathways will be covered by mulch, and I usually water two or three rows with each soaker hose run. My garden layout is different every year, so every time I plant I'm out there with a pocket knife and a screwdriver making the soaker hose runs fit what I'm planting.