Soaker Hose!

On hot days like today you want to make sure to keep your plants hydrated too. But what if you don't have time? The easy way to save time and money in your garden and have healthier plants is by purchasing a soaker hose! Water seeps out of soaker hoses delivering water right to your plants' roots while keeping the leaves dry. Sprinklers can waste water due to evaporation and runoff, hand watering is time consuming and drip irrigation systems are expensive. Switching to soaker hoses means you'll waste less water, lower your water bill and won't have to haul your hose around the garden. Here's how to install soaker hoses in your garden:

Instructions

1. • 1
     Soaker hoses are typically made from recycled rubber and they work best at a length of 50 feet or less, any longer and uneven water distribution will occur towards the end of the hose. Your soaker hose should be laid out on a flat level service.
   • 2
     Place soaker hoses directly on top of the soil. Do not bury them under soil. You can lay soaker hoses out in straight lines or snake them through garden beds; either way, space the soaker hose lines 18 inches apart to ensure the entire bed gets an even amount of water. Keep the hose an inch or two away from the base of your plants.
   • 3
     Soaker hoses come in tightly coiled packages. When the hoses are new they have an annoying habit of curling back up. Keep the hoses in place and prevent kinks by pinning them to the ground with U-shaped metal landscaping pins every 24 inches.
   • 4
     Cover the soaker hoses with mulch after they are in place. The mulch accomplishes two tasks by disguising the hoses and helping your soil retain moisture longer. Plus, it prevents weeds! Grass clippings or straw make a great mulch in vegetable beds, while wood chips and pine needles are a longer- lasting choice for ornamental gardens.
   • 5
     Encourage your plants to develop deep, drought-resistant root systems by watering deeply but infrequently. Let the water soak 8 to 12 inches down into the soil each time you water. Figure out how long you need to keep your hose on by watering for 30 minutes and then checking how far down the water has seeped. Change your watering time accordingly.

Tips

-If your faucet is located far from your garden bed, install the soaker hose in your garden and then connect the soaker hose to the faucet with a solid hose.

-Soaker hoses work best if you install a pressure regulator on your faucet and keep it between 10 and 15 psi.

-If you notice dry spots in your bed, your soaker hose may be clogged. To flush it out, just unscrew the end cap and run water through the hose to remove any debris, then replace the end cap.
-Increase the longevity of your hose by removing it from the garden in winter. Wash off excess soil from the hose, flush out the inside, loosely coil it and then store it indoors.