How to Use a Soaker Hose in a Garden

A soaker hose is a wise alternative to watering your plants without wasting water. It allows the water to seep into the soil around the base of your plants without shooting it into the air where a large percentage of it can evaporate into the warm dry air. Knowing how to use a soaker hose in your garden will save you gallons of water and hours of time.

Things You'll Need

• Soaker hose
• Pressure regulator
• Mechanical timer
• Shovel

Instructions

1. Lay out your black soaker hose in your garden bed where it can reach as many plants as possible. Sometimes this will mean that you will spiral it around. Just keep in mind that you don't want to exceed 100 feet of length in any section of your garden.

2. Attach a pressure regulator to the end of your hose. Most home water systems operate at between 50 to 70 psi and the soaker hose should be operated at 10 psi so the regulator will keep the water at the right pressure consistently for the whole length of the hose.

3. Screw on the hose and regulator to the soaker hose and turn on the water. Check to make sure that everything is working and the hose is thoroughly wet. Soaker hoses are made from recycled tires and have little holes so the water can seep out. The water should not be squirting up into the air.

4. Turn off the water and dig a shallow trench where you want to place the soaker hose. It is most efficient when it is buried. You can also just cover it in mulch when you are doing your spring mulching.

5. Set the soaker hose into the trench and cover it with the soil you removed. Tap the dirt down and turn on the water. Typically 2 inches of water a week should be enough for most plants unless you have very sandy soil or extreme heat.

6. Place a flat container under a section of the hose. Turn on the hose and measure the amount of time it takes to fill up with 2 inches of water.

7. Remove the end of the hose from the spigot and attach your mechanical timer. Reattach your hose and set the timer for the amount of time you calculated in Step 6.

Tips & Warnings

• Pull up your hose before the heavy freeze of winter

Resources

• Hose Timer
• Regulator for Soaker Hose
• Ace Hardware Soaker Hose