My neighbor in Tucson told me to quit burying my drip lines and I fought him on it for a month

Phoenix Williams · 2026-10-19T22:30:03.796502+00:00

So I had the drip lines under mulch about 3 inches down, thinking it kept them safe from the sun and looked cleaner. He came over while I was digging up half the yard and asked what depth I was running at. I said 3 inches. He just shook his head and said "you're watering the rocks, not the roots." I blew him off for about a month. Then I dug one line back up to check for a leak and the ground around it was bone dry past the first inch. He was right. Water was going sideways under the mulch and barely reaching anything. Moved both zones up to the surface and my water bill dropped $22 the next month. Plants look better too. It's ugly seeing the lines but whatever. Has anyone else gone back and forth on buried vs surface lines? Curious what depths worked for you in dry heat.

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My neighbor in Tucson told me to quit burying my drip lines and I fought him on it for a month | Backyard Renovations - Thought Shares