I was certain a sprinkler system would solve my watering woes. While talking with the man at the center, asking all of my questions, he mentioned a lawn watering system called drip irrigation. I had, of course, heard of drip irrigation for your garden but never for your lawn. He told me that I was right in thinking that drip irrigation had been , until recently, only used in gardens. Then he told me that, due to new development, it is now used in many lawns.

In the last few years, researchers have completed testing that shows that emitter lines can now be used efficiently on many lawns. They have even developed a way to make the plastic of the emitter lines impervious to the root intrusion. These emitter lines are now expected to last 20 years. That’s about the same as sprinkler systems.

There are a number of benefits in using irrigation that is below the surface of your lawn. The main advantage of using this system instead of sprinklers is water conservation. There is no loss of water due to evaporation, watering more than just your lawn, or from runoff. This system makes it easier to water narrow areas and slopes. You’re also not watering your driveway, street, house, or fences.

Another advantage in using irrigation rather than sprinklers is that the surface of your lawn is never wet (unless it rains), meaning it can always be used. Lawn darts anyone? Also, with the lawn staying dry, there is less chance of disease and the need to treat it. The one drawback is that if you have a lawn with a lot of trees and roots you probably don’t want to use this system. The cost is a bit more to install a drip irrigation system over sprinklers but I believe the benefits outweigh this.

Installing emitter lines is easy in a new lawn. You can install them in the lawn you already have. In either case you will need to use a trencher which you can rent from a rental center. The trencher cuts a 6-inch-deep, and 1-inch-wide, trench. You lay the emitter lines at the bottom of the trench, cover them with soil and then reseed.

How you layout the emitter lines will vary depending on how your lawn is shaped. The emitter lines will always run parallel to each other an be 6 inches deep. If you have soil that is very sandy bury the emitters 4 inches deep. Your soil type will determine the flow rate you need and how far to space the emitters and lines.

If this is something that sounds interesting to you I suggest that you go to your favorite lawn and garden center and see what information they have available.