Christie, I have used them several years with no real problems. I have never found them on sale, even at the end of the season. Still, they are not terribly expensive. Once in a great while they will develop too large a hole and need to be mended. If it is tiny, duck tape can work, if not, just regular hose repair works. I am ashamed to say I have lots in my garden shed that I failed to get in place this Spring......that will not happen for next year! You can't use over 100' because of water pressure issues. The most I use at one time is 50'. The new one I bought (and is hanging up in the shed) is 75' so can't report on that one. If you leave them on a long time, they will spread to about 36 inches to either side of the hose. I also like to cover mine with mulch so they don't spray up too much when a hole gets too large.

I think you will be very happy with them.

gld

wish i had read this about 6 years ago!! smart me--my raised bed was going to be easy that year. i bought 500 feet of soaker hose--the good kind, made from recycled tires, and buried it all under mulch!humm--must've put too much mulch on it, didnt water half way. next year, moved the gardens--bigger--carefully placed the hose, winding around the rows. course, you dont need water in the spring--so i didnt turn it on till garden was thick with plants.still, no go!! how long do you think it took to dawn on me that there wasnt enough pressure to reach the length of it??no, surely not that--i have strong water pressure!!so--i hook the other end to another faucet--finally i learned.dont say a old dog cant learn new tricks--just takes me a lot longer--lol

Our first soaker hoses were just cheap old hoses with holes drilled in them and old double knit fabric strips wound around over the holes and tied real tight. We hung them on the support wires for grapes and brambles. Worked really well, but sure wasn't something for "House and Garden" magazine. LOL I still like the idea because you can mark the hose and drill right where you want it to "leak". We just leave them where they are to be used and hook up to them when water is needed. You do have to use a pair of pliars to break up the limestone deposits maybe once per season.

Christie, I got most of mine at auctions, already wound on a hose reel and ready to go. If you aren't already addicted to auctions, find someone who is to keep their eyes open for them. Years ago, I also bought a length, maybe 200' of just the plain soaker hose at Sam's Club and I applied connectors at the lengths I needed.

They are very useful especially in weather like this. If you do cover them with mulch, as is recommended, you can't even tell where the hose is. That is great to prevent evaporation.

I'm always careful to run the regular hose on any part I will touch in joining the water source hose to the soaker. They can get HOT. If you decide to take them up for storage each fall, check for leaks and fix them in the fall instead of the spring when you will be too busy. Also, if you can get one of those little shut-off valves to control the flow at the end of the garden hose, you will save yourself some showers--another one who takes a while to learn new tricks.

You can buy 2 75 ft hoses at sam's club for abut $10 which is half price if you go to walmart. They work really well I use them all over. But still end up draging the hose lots. May try some drip irrigation next year for the pots. We got none of the rain that Ft. Smith got. Was there so got to cool off but made it seem worse when got home. Tomatos are fried before I can pick them. Do wish had more trees and some shade to help some of my plants. Trees arent growing fast enough. Judy

I didn't think of Sam's! Thanks Judy. Wal-Mart and Lowe's were about the same and I can't remember ever seeing hoses marked down at the end of the season. I guess they just send them back to the warehouse. My hubby bought me a few of those y-connectors to hook onto hoses because I was watering trees and shrubs I planted back along our hayfield. They would work great for the soaker hoses and two 75 foot hoses should at least cut down on my walking around to water everything in the summer. I do enjoy it and pull weeds as I go but I just don't have time. I've got the hoses going now and need to go out and move them. I watered my painted ferns two days ago and they were already laying on the ground again this morning. I love them but they're just not tough enough.