Nan,
I donÂt know that I have one specific answer to your question but I will share with you what I have done to attack this issue over the last many years. We did install our entire system ourselves which just like landscaping it really isnÂt the sweet equity that is all that important but the design experience from the sprinkler guy that counts. Of course dh and I felt no one else could do as good of a job as we could because we intimately understood the needs of our property much more than any one stopping by to "take a look at the job" ever could. Frankly we discovered we did a pretty good job but the needs of our property as plants were moved or were actually were given a chance to mature were ever changing and just like many chores/tasks I would rather hand over the yearly maintenance of this one to someone else. I have a system with many different zones as well as different types of watering. The different types for me are soaker, lawn sprinkler (with many different types of heads), direct tubing (in the woods). The name brand of materials I have used over the years has been Turo which you can buy at any plumbing supply store. One of the largest costs to a sprinkler system is having the back flow preventer installed by your plumber. You will also need to rent the tool that cuts your lawn to allow you to lay the piping. Once a year in the fall I need to have the guy come and blow out the pipes with a compressor to prevent winter damage. I have also depended on him to come and trouble shoot the system after a brown out or extremely cold winter. I have also installed a sprinkler system at our beach house in southern Fla. using parts from a Home Cheapo and I will tell you it was a disaster that needed constant maintenance. All and all I suppose when ever I get the sprinklers guys bill I wonder why it is so small and I am happy to pay it. kt

nan, we have soaker hoses that live in our beds year round. do they not appeal to you?
best,
mindy

Thanks to you both. I think I'll have a look at my local plumbing supply store and then see if I can map out a plan for at least part of the garden, and check my soaker hose pile and see what's left that's usable.

Mindy, do you use a timer, or just turn the soakers on and off when needed? Do you leave hoses in place that run out to the soakers, or drag hoses around the way I have to do? Maybe if I ran some long hoses around the backs of the borders, that would make the whole thing easier.

I don't know why I ever brought my soaker hoses in in fall, obviously they don't fill up with water and crack; however, when I've left them in place, I usually end up chopping them into tiny pieces in moving shrubs around in spring. Maybe if I was a little more careful ...

The only other down side to soakers is that they don't have the control you'd get with an emitter-type system. Everything on a specific hose gets the same level of water, or things near the end get less. In an ideal world, any bed is filled with plants with the same water requirements, but that's not quite the way mine work out.

Soakers certainly DO work better than sprinklers, but an automated system with components that were under more or less individual control sounds awfully convenient.

Nan:

In our new, unplanted main bed (30'x40') Rich devised this system that will be installed next spring:

There are three downspouts within 10' of the bed. Under each will be sunk a 40gal plastic barrel. In each barrel will be a small pump like one would use in a small pond. To the pump will be a runner hose that will connect with a labyrinth of soaker hoses.

When we want the water on, the pump gets started. Undoubtedly, we'll add a timer at some point after the novelty wears off.

My concern was that the entire bed wouldn't get wet. So on top of one of the barrels will be a small hand pump for use to individually soak plants that need it.

It won't be fool-proof, and the runner hose will be able to connect to our standard water source during dry weather, but I'm hopeful that it'll work.

Installation in our case will be easy since the plants in the bed are currently nurseried and the hose will be placed in accordance with the "final" plant design.

Martie

Martie - what a great idea! Especially since you're installing it before the plants go in - that will certainly make it easier. I did lay out soakers in a large new street-side bed before I planted it, but the following spring I chopped those poor hoses into many pieces when "tweaking" the shrub selection (I'd overplanted, as usual).

You might want to add an overflow hose in an opening near the top of each barrel, so the downspouts won't back up if there's a power outage during an extended downpour. That would assume that there's a below-grade spot not too far from the barrels...

We can't take credit for the barrel idea -- it was the brainchild of our three 11 year-old neighbors who'd just finished a water conservation project for science class :-)

The overflow will be handled with several small holes put in to the top of each barrel that will disburse the water to plants put in near the barrels. They will be close to the house, directly under the downspout, and the pitch goes away from the house. If for some reason this doesn't keep it from plugging up, the connection to the downspout can be easily removed and it will work as it normally would.

As far as hacking up the hoses, a friend uses this idea and so far, so good: Plant something simple that will go with everything (she used Alyssum in a full-sun bed) on top of the hose locations. You get an idea from plant to plant where they are located. She doesn't pull them in the fall so she knows where to dig/replant in the Spring. She's only lost one hose, so far.

We will be using 15' lengths of hose so that if something does get mangled, it can easily be replaced. We were concerned about the connections, but (again kids to the rescue) we'll use duct tape around the connections to give it one more level of seal.

We haven't gotten the materials, yet. I'm looking at several different hose materials and sizes and will probably mix them up depending on the type of plants in their area.

It is a true benefit that I'll be planting after installation. BUT -- things will be moved and we're doing everything we can Now to avoid major movement of the hoses. This bed is being planted to be rather permanent -- more landscaping than garden.

Martie

Martie-I installed a drip system this year and it has been wonderful. I used materials from Mr Drip-www.mrdrip.com- and it was almost easy. I purchased a kit that included a timer and backflow preventer etc. There are lots of emitters etc that can be added on. I would suggest you look at the website-some good basic info there-even if you don't use the products.

Carole

nan, we put tog our system with bj's soaker hoses. not on a timer because we have too many zones. all operated at two faucets with 6 diff lines in the back and 3 diff lines out front. trop compliquee i know. at any rate, blank hoses go from the faucet to the beginning of the bed and there @ blank hose is connected to the soaker hose which winds its way through the bed. we have cut many a hose but they can be spliced'taped'. these are not DRIP hoses, which can have emitters and which i hated because they didn't water enough for our needs(the holes are 12" apart). however, if you want to try some free drip hosing and connectors etc., i lent a ton of it to marie last yr and i don't think she uses it, so you could get it from her.
best,
mindy