Watering System -- Finally!

I finally got my watering system under control. It isn't pretty, but it works. Hubby ran pvc pipe hose connectors all over the back yard. Each one has a Y connector on it, so we can have a hose and a spiggot or 2 hoses on each one.

I didn't trust those lightweight flexable, expandable (Pocket) hoses because I had to return all 3 that we bought a few years ago, but Hubby bought me another one yesterday and I love it. The trick is to treat them gently. They don't react well to pulling or high pressure. You also have to turn them on slowly, so they can expand without blowing up. If this one doesn't last, even with tlc, I'll report back here with a bad review. 

I now have one pocket hose inside the garden and another one right outside for the herb beds. I have a hose and sprinkler going down the hill to a couple of plants that should never have been planted there. Dragging a 50' hose up and down the hill was a pain. Now I just turn on the faucet and let the sprinkler do the work. That area is now a chicken oasis, with cat grass and a dust bowl, as well as close proximity to the compost all-you-can-scratch-and-eat-buffet. It means there's a hose laying out there all the time, but that's just the way it is. I'd rather look at a hose in the yard than hike the hill twice a day.

I have one other area where I had to drag a 50' hose, but that was solved with a 25' hose and a nice wand with an adjustable power setting. 

What I finally figured out about hoses (after 50 years of fighting with them and losing ) is that kinks are brought on by winding them into cute little coils between waterings. They kink when you pull them out of the coil and coiling them back is a pain and self-defeating. Now I spread the hose out along a building or fence, or loosly lay it out around the garden bed between waterings. It doesn't look any worse and it makes the watering task way easier. 

Our daughter (lives on the same property) has bigger problems cuz her part of the yard is more spread out, so she has been hauling even more hoses than I was. We haven't solved all of her issues, yet, but we now think the solution will be more Y connectors, more hoses, quick-release gadgets, and a pocket hose she can just carry from station to station and plug in as she goes. If anyone needs this info, I'll update this thread with her progress (or lack thereof.  ) If anyone else has suggestions for watering large spaces without installing a drip or sprinkler system, I'd love to hear them.

Glad your watering situation has improved. Except for an occasional face plant.

Countrynaturals, Hurrah for no more dragging hoses!   I remember the sheer drudgery of that chore, it almost makes you want to give up gardening.

At my previous house we had about 1/3 acre. The water faucet was on the right front side of the house and the garden was in the left corner all the way at the back of the property. I got so sick of dragging out hoses or tripping over them and moving them constantly to keep them from killing the grass or for mowing. So I decided to make a faucet at the garden. Bought enough good quality hose to stretch from the faucet to the garden and laid it out. With a sharp shovel cut a line in the grass and lifted the sod back. I put the hose in the trench and folded the sod back over. I stamped up and down the line until everything was level. Hammered in a 3' piece of PT 2x4 and clamped the end of the hose to it at the garden and attached a fitting with a shut off. Attached a 25' hose to that to water my 24x24 garden. After a couple weeks you couldn't even see the grass had been disturbed. No more dragging hoses! I loved it and it worked beautifully for many years. It was still working so I left it there when I moved. Since I live in New England it could freeze, so I made sure I diconnected and drained it each fall.

Lyndeeloo:   If this one works out, after the first rain this fall, I think we'll bury our hose the same way. That location isn't used for anything else, so it isn't worthy of its own system, but it would be nice to make the hose disappear. (We'd need a jack hammer to do it now.  )

I basically did what lyndeeloo did but couldn't bury the hose because there were to many underground things in the way (pool pipes, telephone wires, electric and gas lines.  So I zip tied the hoset to the bottom of a fence and then used a hose bib extender out near the garden.

Good job, Yolos. There are so many ways to make those hoses disappear. Imagine if they had feelings. They deliver life-saving water to our plants and all we do is swear at them, step on them, bury them, choke them. It's a good thing they don't retaliate (except the one that tripped me, yesterday.)

Yolos, Good idea tying it to the fence, no digging required. 

Hope it works for you Country naturals, lugging those hoses around is back breaking. 

The house I live in now has a tiny yard and faucets on 3 sides of the house, so I finally invested in those collapsing pocket hoses. Was initially skeptical but have had good luck with the heavy duty black hose with brass connectors.

lyndeeloo wrote:Yolos, Good idea tying it to the fence, no digging required. 

Hope it works for you Country naturals, lugging those hoses around is back breaking. 

The house I live in now has a tiny yard and faucets on 3 sides of the house, so I finally invested in those collapsing pocket hoses. Was initially skeptical but have had good luck with the heavy duty black hose with brass connectors.

Same here -- heavy duty black hoses where necessary -- lightweight pocket hoses in the sfg. I still have a few more areas where I'm still lugging water, but the important 90% is finished. 

we bought the pocket hose with the brass (not plastic) coupling parts and we LOVE them! We take them inside for the winter, but that's the only special treat they've had. So far we've gotten three seasons out of them with no problems. Easiest hoses we've ever used.

Your brand? Photo?

sanderson wrote:   Your brand?  Photo?  

I'd love to see a photo or two, too.

We finally got started on our "real" watering system with drip attachments, sprinklers, etc. I've been afraid to try it for years, but Hubby jumped right in and finished 2 systems in 2 days. They are AWESOME! instead of dragging hoses around, I turn on a faucet and sit down in a garden chair to enjoy the cool mist and watch the birds flock to the water feature. We still have 3 more systems to go, but so far they have been super easy and work perfectly.  If anyone else is just getting started with a drip system, I'd be happy to answer questions. Here are a few hints:

1) Lay out the hose and connectors in the hot sun for a few minutes before starting. It makes the hose more pliable and the hole punching easier.

2) #1 makes this stuff hot, so wear gloves to keep from getting your hands burned working with the hot hose.

3) Be very careful not to kink the hose. This isn't as easy as it sounds.

Here is our birdbath garden. The sprinklers aren't easy to see, but the results are much better than hand-watering. The system is far more gentle than I could be with a hose and watering wand and takes very little water.

We're leaving ours above ground for the summer. It's already too hot and the ground to hard to dig it in. After the first fall rain, we'll start trenching and burying the hoses.

Can you show a closeup of how the bird bath is filled? I need to have a bird bath.

sanderson wrote:Can you show a closeup of how the bird bath is filled?  I need to have a bird bath.

We still do that manually, but if you wanted it on the system, just run another tube up the side and into the bath, anchor it with rocks, and put whatever type of end you like. It could drip, squirt, disperse like a fountain or act like a regular lawn sprinkler. These things have been around so long they've thought of everything. They even have "goof plugs" for when you make a mistake and need to plug up a hole. They have splicers for extending your system and hubs for sending out tubes in all directions. Also "Ts" for branching out sideways. The ends can squirt out 360 degrees, 180, or 90. They can drip, spray, squirt, or mist. I feel like a kid in a candy store. 

CitizenKate wrote:

sanderson wrote:   Your brand?  Photo?  

I'd love to see a photo or two, too.

This is the one I'm trying out except mine has brass fittings, not black plastic.  I have 3 months to return it if need be.



I like it OK but it shrinks back toward the faucet when I turn the water off and sometimes I like the hose to stay where I drop it.  VERY easy to coil up when the mower comes out.  Also, if  using it without an attachment, you have to hold the tippy end or it'll wiggle around like a snake.  It hit me in the face the first time and I got water up my nose.  Gruesome.  


 It doesn't work perfectly with my wand, a little drippy in spots instead of an all fine shower.  It comes with it's own sprayer that I've yet to try.  It's very lightweight until full of water, but I think my 84 yr old mother will find it easier to handle than a regular hose.

Country, where did you buy all your supplies for that system?

CapeCodess wrote:Country, where did you buy all your supplies for that system?

Most of it is from Home Depot. 2 kits were on clearance from Walmart. The rest was broken sets from donations and garage sales. I just placed a huge order from Home Depot to finish the rest of the systems. It should get here in about a week, then it will be time to get serious. The 2 sections we already finished were easy -- in-ground fruit trees and simple flower beds. The rest will be complicated -- containers, lawn, and BTE veggie garden.