After spending years of my life either holding or dragging a garden hose, I finally decided to invest in some soaker hoses. Bought some highly rated ones from Amazon and laid 100' today. They look nice, went down with ease and water ooozes beautifully, but I do have 3 questions for my GW family . . . .

Question 1: Is placing a shallow container (tuna tin) under a section of hose to determine how long it takes to fill it the best way to determine proper watering time? I would think an inch of water wouldn't begin to be enough for most shrubs and trees ? How long do you run yours and how did you come up with this?

Question 2: In searching for the above answer, I ran across several websites saying I should have (by law !) installed a backflow preventer to keep hose water from backing up into my drinking water line. Is this true ???

Question 3: Same sources also said a pressure regulator is a 'must' so you don't blow your hoses. I barely turned the faucet and watched as water slowly began to seep all the way to the capped end, then ran it like this for 2 hours without issue. Was luck with me and is 'common sense' a suitable substitute for a pressure regulator or is this something I really should invest in?

Thanks in advance for your comments ~ annie