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need advice for irrigation system for beds and borders - soak / drip / micro drip ?? which one

selinasallyselinasally Posts: 166
in Tools and techniques
Please can someone advise me on a. reputable make and which one to go for ?
I have a 19 m long by 14 m wide garden with traditional beds in the perimeter - currently _ until I carve up the lawn . Anyway - I am going round in circles - should I get a soak tube or a drip or a micro drip ? I want to be able;e to use less water - as last year I just used a sprinkler which wasted so much water and I am on a meter . I want to be able to have a timer so it waters in the morning when I am here or at work . please send me your suggestions . many thanks 

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,136
    I would go for a seep hose - porous along its whole length.   Very flexible and easy to wind round so the whole bed is covered.   Make sure tho that it's covered by a mulch of something like chipped bark to protect it from sunlight and also make sure all the water is captured and not lost to evaporation.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,322
    I have a gardena drip system installed and it has been great. Hard polytube systems will last longer than a soaker hose but they cost much more but they give you proper control of how much water goes where. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,136
    I have one of those too @amancalledgeorge and used it for the tomatoes in the polytunnel last year but it has spaced holes so the water was wasted where there wasn't a tomato next to it.   The seep hose I laid in the dahlia bed was much better IMO so I'm swapping them over this year and the dahlias will get the polytube.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,322
    You can install the solid tube that you puncture where a water outlet is needed. I have a mix of those predrilled ones and solid ones run to each plant for the larger plants. Do like the outlets that allow you to regulate the flow. But it takes a while to get the overall coverage to its optimal state. For instance when I planted a small row of lavenders last year I removed the existing tube that had six half litre outlets and got a solid one running past them to the taxus ball nearby. Can totally understand that a lot of people would rather hand water than keep an eye on a drip system 😉
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 8,038
    I used soaker / seeper hose on new borders and they worked well.  Micro drip would take a lot more setting up but would use much less water.  Whether micro would work depends in part on how many plants need watering.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 10,275
    I had a micro-drip system years ago. It was a nightmare to maintain and too frequently I'd chop through some bit of buried pipe which would need replacing or a bit of grit would get in somewhere and block it.

    In 2018 I bought a HydroSure 50m seeper hose which has worked really well over the last few years and it's big enough to be able to see before I pout a fork through it - so far so good.
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • selinasallyselinasally Posts: 166
    Pete.8 said:
    I had a micro-drip system years ago. It was a nightmare to maintain and too frequently I'd chop through some bit of buried pipe which would need replacing or a bit of grit would get in somewhere and block it.

    In 2018 I bought a HydroSure 50m seeper hose which has worked really well over the last few years and it's big enough to be able to see before I pout a fork through it - so far so good.
    That is a good point - thanks for everyone's input. Someone has recommended a Gardena timer with a Gardena box for separate areas of garden and then the Hozelock Flexi hose system ...has anyone got any  experience of theses ?
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,136
    I use a timer.  It was really handy when we went on hols and I'd gather all the pots and troughs and baskets at the back of the house and set it for an hour each night to let the sprinkler water them all.   Did this after asking a neighbour's teenage daughter to water one year and came home to find everything crispy.

    I use the timer now when I'm busy cos I know I'll forget to turn off the water and we too are metered.  I now only use the sprinkler for newly planted beds or when I need to soften the surface for a good hoeing and weeding session.

    My seeper hoses are either outside and hidden under dahlia foliage or chipped bark and used in beds where I don't dig all thru the growing season.   The others will be looped round the surface of the beds in the polytunnel where I plant tomatoes and chillies so I can see them when hoeing.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
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