After my gardens are planted and before you lay down any mulch, it is time to lay down your soaker hoses in the garden. This will save you hours upon hours of standing in your gardens, with a hose, watering your plants. It will also give your plants the best chance of not getting certain diseases.
Where do you purchase you soaker hoses?
I buy mine off of Amazon. You can find them at any local farm stores or even the big box stores, such as Walmart, Target etc. I do suggest when you do find one you want to purchase, do a quick google review search and make sure they have good reviews. We have gotten to the point where we check reviews for everything. I can get at least 2 seasons out of my hoses, sometimes longer, depending on how I take care of them.
What other supplies are needed
I recommend purchasing landscaping staples to hold the hoses in place. You can find them at your local farm and garden store. They are very inexpensive and they hold your soaker hoses in place, all while not puncturing your hoses.
How to lay down your soaker hoses in the garden
If your garden is on a slope, you want to start at the top of the hill and work your way down. This will help utilize gravity and will ensure even watering to each plant.
As you are laying down your soaker hose, when you turn a corner, use your landscaping staples and staple your soaker hose into the ground. Leave an inch headway from the top of the staple to the ground. This will help keep your hose in place once you turn the water on.
When you lay down your soaker hose, make sure to lay it off to the side and not directly over your seeds. You want to give your seedling room to sprout and grow.
Depending on the size of your gardens, you may need to connect more that one soaker hose together. Keep in mind, the watering needs of your plants. For example, my tomatoes need less water than my squash or corn. I would have two different connection points and not have the 2 soaker hoses connected. Not a big deal in my gardens, I just set a timer and move the garden hose when it goes off.
adding mulch
After laying down my soaker hoses, I will lay down a thick layer of straw around my plants. This helps keep the weeds in check and also helps hold moisture in the soil on those hot days of summer. The last thing you want to happen is for you garden to dry out and you start having issues with your plants being dry.
If I am waiting for seeds to sprout, I will lay down the soaker hoses after I plant, but hold off on the mulch. Once the seeds have sprouted and I have weeded out any weeds that grew, I will then add the thick layer of mulch.
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