Recommend me a hedge irrigation hose

[Mont Blanc]

I have a 25 metre section of laurel hedge that I need to keep watered automatically through the drier months.

I have a Hozelock timer which works great, but the irrigation hose seems a bit useless.

It is one of these:

‘30m porous drip soaker hose’

https://amzn.eu/d/azq0pXA

It pours out of the first 10 metres or so, then tails off rapidly, leaving the last 5-10 metres with barely a drip coming out.

I have really good mains water pressure, but I just think the design of this hose is a bit rubbish, and allows water to pour out where the pressure is higher and not really anywhere else.

Any suggestions for an irrigation pipe/system/hose that distributes the water evenly along the length?

[JimM169]

Could you use a T joint and split the drip hose to have two shorter lengths feeding from the middle outwards?

[dmsims]

I used Gardena for a lot longer length with pipe and drippers

[Mont Blanc]

JimM169 said:

Could you use a T joint and split the drip hose to have two shorter lengths feeding from the middle outwards?

I did think about that, but I suspect it will be just as bad, with the water pouring but in the middle each side of the T for a couple of meters, and then nothing at the ends again.

[biggiles]

You can get more sophisticated hose (not necessarily more £) with perforations along it, so it's easier to calculate/confirm that it will supply water along the whole length.

I threw our porous hose away eventually, it didn't work (as you found) for longer lengths.

[OutInTheShed]

If you lower the pressure, the flow will be more even.

If it's on a slope, you need to feed it from the top.

Or use a bunch of adjustable jets.


Hedges may do better with a weekly soaking, which encourages deep roots, as opposed to frequent watering near the surface encouraging roots near the surface?
Obviously you may need to water frequently for the first few weeks of a new hedge.

[Dr Murdoch]

Mont Blanc said:

I have a 25 metre section of laurel hedge that I need to keep watered automatically through the drier months.

I have a Hozelock timer which works great, but the irrigation hose seems a bit useless.

It is one of these:

‘30m porous drip soaker hose’

https://amzn.eu/d/azq0pXA

It pours out of the first 10 metres or so, then tails off rapidly, leaving the last 5-10 metres with barely a drip coming out.

I have really good mains water pressure, but I just think the design of this hose is a bit rubbish, and allows water to pour out where the pressure is higher and not really anywhere else.

Any suggestions for an irrigation pipe/system/hose that distributes the water evenly along the length?

I used the Hozelock one on several areas, and its great. I then thought I would save some cash and buy that one for another border, but I agree, its rubbish.

[Mont Blanc]

OutInTheShed said:

If you lower the pressure, the flow will be more even.

If it's on a slope, you need to feed it from the top.

Or use a bunch of adjustable jets.


Hedges may do better with a weekly soaking, which encourages deep roots, as opposed to frequent watering near the surface encouraging roots near the surface?
Obviously you may need to water frequently for the first few weeks of a new hedge.

I agree, I think it is the adjustable jet/dripper system that I need.

I had a Hozelock one at my old house and I now remember that I could adjust them all the way along to even out the flow rate until they were all the same.

Interesting about the hedge watering frequency, I did not know that. I suppose I could still use a dripper but have it running for 1-2 hours once per week, rather than every couple of days for less time.

[Simpo Two]

Years ago my parents kept the vegetable plots watered using a flat plastic hose with lots of tiny slits in it, as if it had been stabbed with the point of a scalpel. They seemed random so water sprayed in all directions and it seemed pretty constant along the length. So I wonder if you could use ordinary garden hose, stab it many times and use that.

[Huzzah]

Simpo Two said:

Years ago my parents kept the vegetable plots watered using a flat plastic hose with lots of tiny slits in it, as if it had been stabbed with the point of a scalpel. They seemed random so water sprayed in all directions and it seemed pretty constant along the length. So I wonder if you could use ordinary garden hose, stab it many times and use that.

This is what I do in the greenhouse, ordinary hose with holes drilled.

Works OK, but only a short length.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Use a splitter so that you can run a length of normal hose in parallel with the soaker hose to take water pressure to the far end, and connect the water to both ends of the soaker hose.

[dickymint]

Nelly does ours..........

[OutInTheShed]

The irrigation kits are very cheap from Amazon etc.

Last year I had a system which did a load of big pots, planters and the greenhouse.
12V pump on a timer filled a small tank from the water butt.
The tank took about an hour to leak away via the drippers.
Running it slow and low pressure means the pressure drop along the hose is small, but any height variation makes a difference.
I used a lot of the drippers that screw into a 1/2inch hose, just put more drippers in for more flow.

I think we've had this year's dry spell?

[Simpo Two]

Huzzah said:

This is what I do in the greenhouse, ordinary hose with holes drilled.

Works OK, but only a short length.

They were just slits a few mm long every 6" or so, not holes, so the pressure stayed up.

[bigpriest]

How deep are the roots planted? There's a lot of moisture in the earth even if the topsoil looks dried out. I planted a privet 18 months ago and have never watered it and it's looking healthy.

[Mont Blanc]

bigpriest said:

How deep are the roots planted? There's a lot of moisture in the earth even if the topsoil looks dried out. I planted a privet 18 months ago and have never watered it and it's looking healthy.

Hedge is showing signs of water distress, too dry, as the edges of the leaves are turning brown. (apparently that's what the brown leaf edges mean according to Google)

The hedge is only 2.5 years old, so the roots won't be that deep I don't think. I read that Laurel takes 3-4 years to be properly established.

[Mont Blanc]

To update this one:

I bought a really cheap 25 metre dripper kit on Amazon, for £15. Came with 30 adjustable drippers, so one every 80cm.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kalolary-Irrigation-Distr...

Works perfectly. Spent about 15 mins fine tuning each dripper until they were all flowing at the same rate, and it's all working great. The far end of the 25m is flowing the same as the one right next to the outlet of the hose timer.

[bigpriest]

Mont Blanc said:

bigpriest said:

How deep are the roots planted? There's a lot of moisture in the earth even if the topsoil looks dried out. I planted a privet 18 months ago and have never watered it and it's looking healthy.

Hedge is showing signs of water distress, too dry, as the edges of the leaves are turning brown. (apparently that's what the brown leaf edges mean according to Google)

The hedge is only 2.5 years old, so the roots won't be that deep I don't think. I read that Laurel takes 3-4 years to be properly established.

Ah, right I think my choice of privet and holly is a bit more forgiving of dry conditions. Although they are planted in garden compost and the rogue potato and tomato plants are growing as well. Good recommendation on the irrigation hose, I usually spend 4 hours looking at Amazon choices and then give up.

[dhutch]

bigpriest said:

How deep are the roots planted? There's a lot of moisture in the earth even if the topsoil looks dried out. I planted a privet 18 months ago and have never watered it and it's looking healthy.

Yeah I was going to say, other than the first season after planting, a hedge shouldnt really need watering.

Is it actually sustainable or sensible to be using drinking grade water to ensure a a hedge isnt stressed?

We are on a sandstone ridge, with bugger all topsoil, and have never watered any of our hedges, which are a mix of Privet, Laurel, and a large Purple Beech hedge we put in 6 years ago.