Need to brainstorm to find good solution for watering raised-bed garden.

Parameters: Belongs to a non-profit (no money), located in a neighborhood where anything not locked down or put away at night disappears. Most of garden is in full sun all day. A few tomatoes, beans, squash. Many roses and bulbs, but most fairly drought-tolerant (geraniums, hollyhocks, lavender, crepe myrtle), located in Sacramento, CA so there are weeks where temps are in 90s to 100s.

For a better idea of the setup, follow this link to 2 albums on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/marganne09?sk=photos

Current watering system is very skilled volunteer-intensive. Have two long hoses on wheeled carriers. Each is attached to one (and only) spigot with a forked attachment. Place end of hoses with a trickle under plants for at least 10 minutes, then move over about 3 feet. Objective is to deep soak without watering pathways and parking lot.

Problems: Haven't found dependable volunteers to water efficiently without causing major damage or flooding. Full sun and heat starts early in a.m. limiting when watering can be done. Summer heat often last until after 8 pm. Center closes by 5 or 6 pm. Takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to soak most of the garden.

If I'm watering, I come around 3 or 4 pm and stay in limited shade in between moving hose placement. There's one other person who consistently waters Fridays, although she creates mud puddles and also waters the parking lot. So we're getting by with twice a week, sometimes a little more for the veggies. Very soon, some parts of the garden will need more than that.

Spending all my time just watering isn't much fun. I hope to come in one morning a week to tend a central courtyard. I'd like to keep up in the main garden with trimming, deadheading and weeding, but keeping things alive via watering is the priority for limited resources.

I used to garden there early in morning 4 days a week, but can't physically do that now. Center staff can't come out frequently and readjust placement of soaker hose, trickle hose, or sprinkler. No money to 'install' drip/timed system that wouldn't be vandalized or that is easily put out and gathered up every day. Even using hoses with and moving them frequently creates a bit of a tripping hazard for the disabled clients who use the center.

Someone else MUST have faced this set of circumstances and found choices -- some which worked better than others. Or perhaps this has been discussed here before and someone can point me to the conversation? Appreciate feedback.

Cheers!

Marganne