Krussow, one thing you may want to check if you want equal coverage. You can take about a 4' streach of one end of a soaker hose and curl it into a circle and tie it and place it into a 5 gal bucket, then take the other end and make an equal loop in it and place it into a 5 gal. bucket. You can gave the buckets sitting side by side where you can watch both ends at a time. All we will be checking for is water blow at each end of the hose. You may find that you want more flow at the tail end of your hose. This is one reason I use PVC. With PVC it is easier to adjust water flow along the tube. With PVC you can tape of glue holes closed if you dont want water to leak in that area.

Both systems work well but the soaker hose is much easier to install.

Larry

My wife found a type of nylon cloth soaker hose at Walmart. It was MUCH less expensive than the more common kind, and it came with a good guarantee. I think it was guaranteed for some years. She got me a 70' one for something like $13. It worked very well too. However, at the end of the heat wave, last summer, a thirsty rodent bit into it and I had to shorten it by about 20'.

George
Tahlequah, OK

All of my soaker hoses wound up with holes and leaks. If I have a new garden next year I will be looking into a PVC watering system.

Jo

I have old soaker hoses that must have been made back when the manufacturers still cared about quality because they've lasted at least 5 years without springing links. I do keep them protected from the sun's UV rays with mulch though. None of the soaker hoses we have nowadays are even close to the quality of the ones you could buy 15 or 20 years ago.

You might find a more high-quality soaker hose from someone like Lee Valley Tools or Gemplers but there's no guarantee. No matter which one you use, it pays to buy the little pressure regulator thing. Often, the holes in soaker hoses are caused by water pressure that is higher than what it should be for that particular application.

I'm inclined to agree with Larry and Jo that nowadays, considering how prone soaker hoses are to water unevenly, crack, split, develop holes, etc., it is usually a better option to put in PVC lines unless you're in town where aesthetics are especially important (and if you are in a housing development with an HOA with strict rules, PVC may not meet their standards). Drip irrigation might work for you but it doesn't last for long periods of time when exposed to UV rays too.

The hose Jerreth found for George was sounding promising until he mentioned that a rodent bit through it. : )

If you want to get deeply into this topic, there is an Irrigation forum here at GW, where I am sure you could get some expert advice.

Dawn