A soaker hose system is a fantastically effective and water efficient way to irrigate your lawn and garden.

If you water your garden using a handheld hose or a sprinkler system, you may want to consider a soaker hose as an alternative. Soaker hoses deliver water directly to the roots of plants where it’s needed, so there’s less water lost to evaporation and runoff. The hose literally leaks water slowly and steadily through thousands of tiny holes to give your garden a gradual, deep soak, which is the best way for plants and lawn to absorb water.

Installing your soaking hose system.

Installing the hose system in your garden is simple enough for just about anyone to do. An underground soaker system is the most effective, because you don’t lose any water to evaporation, and you can soak the roots of plants at a deeper level. Installing your soakers underground is most practical if you’re planning a new garden. You can incorporate the hoses into the garden design, and bury them as you plant your garden.

An aboveground soaker system is much easier to install for an existing garden, and the hoses can easily be moved whenever necessary. This type of soaker system is still extremely efficient and effective. You simply place the hose along the ground around the base of your plants, or better still, bury them under garden mulch. If the hose crosses an area of the garden which doesn’t require watering, you simply connect a section of regular hose.

Installing a back flow preventer is highly recommended to stop dirty water backing up through the hose into your household drinking water supply. This is simply a matter of installing a one way valve between the water source or spigot and the first length of hose.