I bought some soaker hoses and now am not sure if that is the same as a "drip" hose. Also should I snake it around the plants like a sound wave shape or just straight through?

I was just given some water lilys and irises. I have no idea how to introduce them to an existing outside water area with decorative fish. Does anyone know if they need to be planted or can they be free floating? I only know that they are lilys and irises. Not the type or anything. The holding area the fish are in is not a pond yet. We are thinking of building one. The fish were left here. I have the plants in a bucket at the moment. Should I dump them in with the fish until I know what to do with them?
May I ask…..what is sharp sand? And if the water area is deep enough and the plants are submerged using the planters will that kill them?

Some background info 1st. I’ve bought most of the supplies for an upcoming organic garden late this spring. A soaker hose seemed like a good idea since I read that they insure less water is wasted (up to 70% less) and they simplify watering since you only have to turn on the hose for a while and everything gets watered (with hose/s set in place around plants).

Well, now to my dilemma. I indeed bought a "Garden Shop" 50ft soaker hose. Front label says it saves up to 70% water and is made from 65% recycled rubber (tires I’d imagine) Only when I got home and read the underside of the label (which can’t be clearly read while in store display) did I notice it says, quote un quote:

"This hose contains chemicals, including lead, known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. Do not drink water from this hose. Wash hands after use."

Sounds scary to me. Ok, I looked around on this (web) and a couple people say most plants don’t take up lead well, etc… but I’d rather side on caution instead of contaminating my soil and hoping for the best.

Via web search (google), I haven’t been able to find a good non-toxic "soaker" hose. Perhaps they aren’t made or maybe they’re just buried too far in the google search engine for me to find them? Where can I get a lead-free and non chemical leaching garden soaker hose?

Found out that common regular hoses are lead contaminated also and that there are special "drink-safe" rubber hoses available. So I may consider trying to make my own non-toxin leaching soaker hose by poking holes in one of these "drink-safe" hoses. You can read some about this at -> http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg061240517127.html

Ideally though I’d rather buy a non-toxin leaching soaker hose premade.

I have a 1200 gal water garden and i have done a 40% water change three times in the last 30 days to rid some of the phosphate…to no avail. The levels are way too high still, no plants will grow and i only have about 15-20 fish in there. 3 largest being about 8 inches, all others are their babies and are about 3 inches long. I can’t put the phos-x media bags in my filter because i have a cannister filter that’s in the ground, no media bag will fit in there…i can’t figure where this is coming from. I have tap water that is treated when put in the garden…..anyone know what i can do or if there is a liquid product i can use to combat this? any help would be appreciated..thanks, April
It’s not possible that it would be lawn fert….don’t use any. Not possible for it to be a problem with neighbors, i live in the country……have done lots of water changes to remove fish waste etc….any other suggestions?

I have been digging a hole in my yard for a water garden that I am going to construct, but the soil is rock hard and in-organic and because of the hole’s location in between two huge trees there are thousands of roots from small grass roots to huge 6" thick or bigger roots from the trees. I’ve been using a hoe to loosen the dirt for shoveling and to cut the roots, but it’s becoming an extreme physically enduring project. Are there any other low-budget methods to get a hole dug? Remember, I need to dig a hole to match my measurements and designs for a water garden, not just a big hole.

Note: A water garden, in my case, is a small man-made pond with fish, aquatic plants, frogs, etc.