I realize having a pic of this might make more sense, but I'll try to describe with words.

Since I have a chronic illness I mulch everything, interplant, & plant closely so there is less watering. I don't water just because it's watering day, but I check the soil moisture 2" or more down with my finger 1st. My climate usually has cool, dry summers with periodic heat waves. Right now it's been drizzing at lot with some down pours, so I don't have to water except for pots under cover.

HAND water with 3' watering wand &/or watering cans for our 4 wood sided beds + where the soakers don't reach the strawberries.
-wand has a valve for on & off, so I don't have to grip to make it work. Using 2 hands & wearing a forearm brace helps reduce arm fatigue.
-to stop leaks try putting a new rubber washer between sprayer & hose. When it leaks, screw tighter as the twisting can work it loose.
I fill the watering cans whenever I use the wand so that water is warm & ready to use.

I thought I would want the soakers in the 3-4' wide raised beds, but they don't seem to snake through very well, so I don't use them there.

SOAKER hoses for the larger in ground plantings of fruits, vegs & flowers that are on the far side of the gravel driveway. A hose runs across driveway that connects to another hose kept in place in the garden that goes up slope a bit to a Y connector with 2 valves, so soakers run downward. The valves make it easy to water as needed rather than have to water it all.

At the Y:
- one side is a hose that leads to a soaker (waters potatoes, peas, cabbages, beans, Jerusalem artichokes)
- other is a soaker connected to another soaker aiming downhill (waters raspberries with annual salvia & calendula as well as tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, zucchini, more tomatoes & raspberries as well as some perennials like bee balm, daylily, Montauk daisy, dianthis, Arabis, etc.

From year to year we change things a bit, but since I really like this current soaker set up and we planted a new long row of raspberries we will probably leave it in place another year just rotate the vegetables.

Some tips we've learned for the soakers:
-snip old wire hangers in 1/2 for quick & easy long pins to keep the hoses in place
-connect & turn on water through soaker to uncoil 1st before putting in place
-spread out & cover with mulch as they seep not spread by spraying (reduces evaporation, too)
-turn on hose at full strength then set a timer & write yourself a note with start & stop time, so you don't forget them (3 hours works most days for us, but timing depends on your flow & weather conditions)

Hope that helps, Corrine

We have an irrigation system set up in our garden, which is about 50' x 50' and includes brick paths and a central patio with a greenhouse. The irrigation system involves permanent pvc feeder lines, with an outlet for each row. There are large valves on the main lines so we can control which areas get watered and which don't, and also small valves on each outlet.

Our garden is set up with 30" rows and 18" paths between them, and that doesn't change. What we put in each row does change as we rotate crops each year. Our system involves irrigation tape attached to the outlets, and that usually has to be replaced every year, although we've left the one under the raspberries for more than one season because it's covered and theoretically more protected. Since we put new tape out each year we can tailor it to whatever is growing in the row. For peppers we just run it down the middle of the row, and for tomatoes, which we grow on tripods set up so that the tripods alternate one pole with two poles along both edges, we run the tape down the row on one edge and back up on the other, so that the plants get water right at their roots. We don't run tape on all the rows; it depends what's going where.

Watering involves leaving the drip irrigation on in the selected rows at least overnight, and sometimes through the next day if it's very dry. It's a better idea to do it just overnight because then the tape doesn't get stressed by hot sun on plastic filled with cold well water.

When we don't use tape we put out oscillating sprinklers as needed, and leave them on a good two hours at a time. But it's not a good idea to water tomato plants overhead because of fungal diseases.

I still water my garden by hand, after a few years of having my potager, mostly because I enjoy doing it, but also because it is the best way for me to get the water to exactly where I want it. There are gravel paths throughout, too.

But mostly, I like standing in my garden and seeing how everything is doing, plant by plant, as I water it. It is one of the most peaceful parts of my day!

I do know what you mean about the hand going numb and the leaky faucet. I have bought a new sprayer each year, pretty much.

Good luck with what you decide!

I hand water until late May/early June then the sprinkler takes over. Hand watering gives me the opportunity to also check for insect damage and pull a few weeds at the same time.

Macgregor,Natal I'm with you. I consider watering my 1:1 time with my plants! LOL Watering time is when I inspect everything.
I do use soaker hoses for my tomato and asparagus/artichoke beds. For the tomatoes, so I don't soak the whole plant and promote disease. I have the hose hook-up hanging out of the garden box so it's easy to connect the hose.
Gardening is my therapy! LOL Nancy

Up until a 1 day before our vacation, I was watering by hand. Unrolling my 200'+ of hose (faucet is pretty far away) and snaking through my garden. It would take up to an hour to water the whole thing. I didn't mind but I couldn't see asking our neighbor's son to water for this long while we were away.

So, I bought 7 soaker hoses, male and female hose menders, a 4-way and a 2-way valve and commandeered 2 old hoses. I cut the old hoses to appropriate length and put a male mender at one end and a female at the other. I used these hoses to go from the 4-way valve with a 2 way attached to make a 5 way valve. Then I snaked soaker hoses through all my beds, using one of the old hoses to connect them across a path. (My son provided a very helpful extra set of hands.) Then I connected a timer to the faucet. And, voila! A soaker hose system is born.

I can control the flow to the beds with the valves. Each valve controls 1 or 2 soakers hoses attached in series.

So far it has worked very well. It waters for 30 minutes everyday. With this hot weather, I will probably run it longer.

Right now I hand water, but will need to set up some kind of a system. I'm looking at utilizing a drip system and solar pumps, I just need someone to help me devise that! :) Right now it's all hand watering with containers, toted from rain barrels.