My neighbor's tip about burying drip line saved my veggie garden

Last spring my neighbor Rick told me to bury my drip irrigation line about 2 inches down instead of leaving it on top. I thought he was nuts because I'd always seen people run it on the surface. After 3 months of less evaporation and no sun damage cracking the tubes I have to admit the guy was right. My tomato plants are way happier and I'm using way less water this summer. Has anyone else tried burying their irrigation lines?

2 comments

2 Comments

max_torres4437m ago

You say "going against the grain" but honestly I've gone back to surface lines after trying buried ones for two seasons. The biggest problem nobody talks about is you can't see when something goes wrong. A gopher chews through your buried line and you're flooding a whole section for days before you notice. With surface lines I spot a leak in 5 minutes. Plus if you have heavy clay soil like I do, that 2 inch depth turns into a mud trap when it rains hard and your roots just drown. I think the reason people do surface lines isn't just copying, it's practical for fixing stuff quick.

luna_wright2h ago

2 inches is the sweet spot for us too. I think there's a bigger lesson here about how most people just copy what they see without asking why. Like I see everyone laying drip on top because that's what the YouTube videos show, but nobody talks about the fact that sun eats plastic and wind blows it around. My uncle used to run his lines on top and every year he had to replace half the tubing from cracks. Once I buried mine I stopped having those problems. It's funny how the best solutions are usually the ones that go against the grain a little bit.