DIY Soaker Hose System (How To Install Soaker Hoses For A Greener Garden) – Gardening From House To Home

Although I love my garden, I like to keep it low whenever I can. That’s why learning how to install a soaker hose system with a water timer was awesome! Even better? works equally well for my flower garden and vegetable garden, in raised beds and flower beds, and keeps my plants watered even when I’m on vacation.

well, it’s that time of year again… if you have a garden, it’s time to start watering!

I used to spend a lot of time lugging around a hose and sprayer trying to make sure all the plants in my flower garden and raised beds were watered regularly.

Because the sprinkler had to be placed in the middle of the lawn to get the water everywhere, I had to move it every time the lawn had to be mowed. and then put it back to water it all (and somehow I could never get it to go back to exactly the right place every time).

Not to mention half the time I forgot to turn it on or off.

And then there’s the fact that sprinkler heads are notoriously bad at wasting water. much of it evaporates before it even hits the ground, and you have to leave the sprinkler on for a long time for the water to sink an inch into the ground. all of which added up to really high water bills in the summer.

so I decided to put in soaker hoses to help with watering my garden. and found that they now have really affordable configurable soaker hose systems.

what is a soaker hose?

Soaker hoses have little holes along them that drip water their entire length using a really low level of water pressure…meaning less water waste (and lower water bills).

configurable soaker hose kits come with hoses up to 100 feet long and have multiple different types of ends and split connections that allow you to position the hose where your plants are.

add a water timer and now you have an automatic garden watering system that will work even when you’re on vacation.

read on to find out how to install a soaker hose system in your garden.

soak hose system supplies

materials

• soaker hose kit*
• garden staples*
• regular hose*
• water timer (optional)*

see all materials here*

tools

• scissors

how to set up a soaker hose system

For a high level overview of how to set up your soaker hose, watch this short video:

Now we will get into the details of how to install a DIY soaker hose system in your flower garden or raised bed that will work for your garden.

1 | make the soaker hose more flexible

When the soaker hose comes out of the package, it will be tightly coiled in a circle. and the hose is quite stiff.

These two things make them a bit difficult to work with right out of the box.

To fix this, expose the hose to the sun for about an hour to soften it up a bit.

then untangle it in the garden. this will bring out the most results and make it easier to place it where you want it in your flower bed.

2 | determine soaker hose layout

Next, you want to make the initial layout of the soaker hose in your garden bed.

Since the water from a soaker hose doesn’t spread very far, the idea is to have the hose run directly over all the flowering plants or vegetables in your bed.

start from the front and lay the hose down so it passes through the root system of each of the plants in the first row.

To prevent rotting or disease, the hose should be close to the plants but not right up against the stems.

then turn around and come back over the root system of the second row.

and repeat for the third row… you get the idea.

If there are plants that don’t fit well in a row, write them down, we’ll get to them later.

how to attach the soaker hose?

if there are places where the hose doesn’t want to stay where you put it, use garden staples* (usually used for landscape fabric) to hold it in place.

3 | shorten soaker hose

if you have a single straight line of hose, you can skip this step.

for everyone else, you’ll now want to figure out where to cut the hose so you end up with several shorter lengths, instead of one long length.

Although you could technically lay a single 100-foot-long hose in one piece and use it to water your garden, it won’t distribute the water evenly.

more water always comes out of the beginning of the hose.