4 Simple and Easy Products for Watering the Garden

One of the biggest challenges to starting a garden is figuring out how to water it. It takes a lot of trial and error, no matter how much research and preparation you do ahead of time. The following setup allows me the flexibility to figure it out as I go and everything listed below is conveniently linked to Amazon.

#1 Soaker Hose

These soaker hoses work very well for me. They drip the water into the ground, so water isn’t lost to evaporation as with a sprinkler and the slow rate allows the water to soak in deep. They come in various lengths and what will work best for you will depend on the size of your garden. My preference for length is 50 feet, as 25 feet was too short and 75 was too hard to work with.

Soaker hoses are easy to move around. So far, I’ve changed the layout of my garden every year. Some of my raised beds even get reconfigured in the same year based on the season, as I plant cool-weather crops differently than my summer garden. Experimenting and being able to make changes is important because the best way to learn to garden is to jump in and get started!

#2 Landscaping Staples

I use these garden staples to hold my soaker hose in place. It helps keep kids and pets from yanking it. Nothing can completely keep kids and pets from causing chaos, but these are a decent buffer. The hose can also wiggle and flex when the water turns on and these help prevent that too. These also allow you to place the hose exactly where you want it, right up next to plants that need a lot of water and far enough away from plants that don’t like to be so wet.

3. Hose Splitter

Two-way hose splitters allow me to water two garden boxes at the same time, which saves so much time. The stop valve lets me water one box longer than the other if necessary. Just flip the lever and it stops the flow to one hose independently of the other.

#4 Pressure Regulator

This product, a pressure regulator, is the game-changer, the one that allows me to recommend all of the rest. During my first garden season, the soaker hoses kept developing large splits and holes. It turns out that our outdoor spigots have far too much water pressure for soaker hoses and they kept blowing out. This pressure regulator controls the water flow and I haven’t had a blown soaker hose since! This regulator has been very helpful in watering our orchard too. Before I found this, I was replacing sprinklers frequently because the heads kept popping off. The 10 psi is recommended for soaker hoses, but I haven’t had a problem with 15 psi. It’s also enough pressure to run regular sprinklers, which is huge for me to be able to finish watering the garden then turn around and plug the hose into the orchard sprinklers without changing the regulator. Anytime I can use one product for two things, it is gold.