nah the holes are lined to keep gophers out. just a hose in at the moment, not on a watering system, watered by hand. i go back and forth on whether or not I will set up a watering system. I lean towards no. I like handwatering... but I want to get the system put in anyways so I can flood out the whole garden here and there (which I could do by hand as well its just time consuming). Some of those holes are lined with 1/4" hardware cloth, as it works WAY better than traditional chicken or gopher wire.