Here it is July, and we surely will be getting some hot and dry weather. It's happened for the last thousand years and probably will occur for the next thousand years, though I couldn't say that unequivocally. I wasn't around 50 years ago, and the odds are not in my favor to be around for the next 50 years.

July is when all the garden soaker hoses are placed between the flowers and shrubs looking like one seemingly long snake, weaving in and out and between plants as well as poking occasionally through the mulch.

Soaker hoses can make watering easier, yet sometimes more difficult. The difficult part is determining where to place them and how.

The big advantage is that while watering in the morning is still recommended, you can water sometimes in the afternoon and evening without much worry, as long as you keep the leaves dry.

First, while not absolutely necessary, I remove the hose each year and re-lay it in the spring. Most of the water drains out before the winter, so there isn't the "Pepsi bottle in the freezer" syndrome.

Yet the plants grow and die, and there are gaps in the garden in the spring. If you leave the hose in the ground, you run the real risk of slicing into it when you're dividing or moving plants, or even working up the soil to plant something else. Trust me on this. It's not the easiest thing to repair an irrigation hose that has been sliced in half with a sharp spade.

Due to physics, which I partially understood at one time, more water is spewed forth closer to the water faucet than at the furthest reaches of any hose. So, you have to realize that plants at the front end of the drip irrigation hose will get more water than those at the end.

Think a bit before laying the hose. Some folks like to lay the hoses in nice straight lines running up and down the garden or flowerbed. Others with a more creative streak create serpentine patterns, snaking the hoses around plants like piping on the hem of a dress.

The latter may actually be better for the plants as it puts the water close to the root system and not in the surrounding soil. However, the downside is that, like the child who never leaves home, the roots don't go out and search for moisture, and develop a stronger root system. Sometimes it's better to force the plant to stretch.

Me? I like the serpentine pattern, only because my plants aren't in any linear fashion. Wherever there's a gap, there's a plant. So, it's easier to snake the hose between everything. In my case, the front is next to a hydrangea that sucks up more water than a sump pump.

Some irrigation hoses are round. They're the easiest to use. Some are flat and require more dexterity to position. Some hoses ooze water out like beads of sweat.

Some shoot miniscule streams into the air about 18 inches, unless you position the hose to shoot straight into the ground. With the round hoses that have holes all the way around the tube, this is difficult.

It really doesn't make a difference, though you always run a greater risk of plant diseases by getting foliage wet.

You can always cover the hose with a couple inches of mulch and avoid wetting the foliage. This way the water has to go into the ground instead of evaporating into the air.

You usually can connect hose after hose after hose until infinity or your money and land run out. However, remember the water pressure keeps dropping. I've found that three hoses is about the limit, and it really does put out about four to five times as much water at the beginning as the end.

Keep most irrigation hoses on for about three hours to thoroughly wet the ground, though you may find this is too much water on the first group of plants. If so, you'll have to move the hose.

David Robson is an Extension Educator, Horticulture, at the Springfield Extension Center, University of Illinois Extension, P.O. Box 8199, Springfield, IL 62791. Telephone: (217) 782-6515. E-mail: drobson@uiuc.edu

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