I just installed a system myself so I didn't have to drag the hose and it only took me an hour to water. All my trees are in containers and most my plants are in a very free draining potting mixture so I don't have to worry to much about overwatering. Currently in northern ca. Its 108 degrees so I make sure to water often but just to be safe i don't over or under water each of my pots have a wooden skewer in them so I pull it up to get a feel of the soils moisture level. Getting a drip system right is tough it was a lot of trial and error with different emitters my system is still not perfect I'm still trying different emitters to try to get it just right. I got everything I needed from home depot or Lowes. My only advice is put your system on a timer that way you can change watering schedules with the push of a button. One last thing installing this system hasn't made my watering completely hands free I still check my soil almost daily to make sure its still running properly but that being said it has cut down on my watering time quite a bit.

Low emission systems - either drip or soaker hoses - are really an ideal way to water any plants. 'Low and slow' directs the water down to the root system where it is needed and best utilized, rather than hand watering (time consuming) or sprinklers (wasteful and doesn't direct the water properly).

For inground plantings, I prefer soaker hoses but a well designed drip system will work equally as well and is preferable for containers (soakers not very effective for these :-))

As noted, supplies and parts for a drip system are available at most home improvement stores. Rainbird has online tutorials that can explain the best methodology as well as help you design a system that works best for your needs. FWIW, timers can be used with both the soaker and drip systems and are helpful when you plan to be away and can't physically turn water off and on.

Thanks for the replies, I really do appreciate the input from everyone.

I have a couple of the soaker hoses that I am using on some rose bushes and thorn less blackberries and I'm not really impressed with them, besides I have about 40 Japanese Maple trees (so far) scattered around on three + acres of land so I'm not seeing that as a feasible solution. Also I'm running off of a well which produces 3 gallons a minute so I'm wanting to make sure not to use over half of that amount in an hour thus giving me plenty of reserve. Also would defiantly put it on a timer so it could be used early morning hours. I also would set it up on a couple of different zones.

I live in a pretty small town (not even any county water where I live) and our Home Depot does not carry any irrigation supplies but they can be ordered and we don't have a Lowes or anything like that. That's why I asked about online purchases.

Again, thanks for your advice.