The Soaker Hose Samba
It’s that time of year again in Texas where the heat becomes relentless and the sun sucks moisture out of the soil faster than I can drain a Shiner Bock. It’s not a bad idea to have the soaker hoses running around your concrete foundation if it sits on elastic clay soil like mine does.
Twenty five years ago I was a young disc jocky spinning tunes on the radio in St. Louis. Hats off to you if you remember KLSQ. I landed a new gig that brought me to Dallas. Upon learning that I was moving to Texas, one of my soon to be ex-coworkers said, “I hear that when you buy a house, you’ll need to water your foundation.”
Huh. I’d never heard of such a thing, but I soon found out he was right. A lot of people recommend laying the soaker hoses about 18 inches from the foundation and doing your best to keep an even area of moisture all around the perimeter. All the time. Otherwise one just contributes to the “wax on, wax off” wet and dry conditions that causes the soil to expand, then shrink. Your concrete foundation does not like that.
Note to self: When you disconnect the soaker hoses to use the garden hoses for lawn watering, car washing, child-teasing and such, after you are done, hook them soaker hoses back up and get them going again.
Filed under: Soaker Hoses
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