Irrigation for ornimental grasses

[greenmonster304]

the grasses are going to be 4' tall and at least 5 plants deep. the system is a clean slate so I can do what ever I want.

[Wet_Boots]

If it would be a sort of "Impenetrable thicket" of ornamental grass, I would consider throwing water at it from a distance. At the same time, if it won't suffer from foot traffic, you might do well with individual drippers for each plant.

[txgrassguy]

Stagger the layouts of the 12" pop ups throughout the planting bed in a manner similar to my first response.
I do not like drip lines for this type of planting as aggressively growing roots may easily damage either the emitter or the feed line.

[Wet_Boots]

I was thinking more in terms of the above-ground emitter arrays. I've used popups with stream nozzles for stuff like this.

[Kiril]

If you bury the lines you will avoid most all the problems with roots, especially if you use a root inhibitor such as the Techfilter option. There is a good reason for the extensive no root intrusion warranty from Netafim.

[greenmonster304]

Originally Posted by Kiril

If you bury the lines you will avoid most all the problems with roots, especially if you use a root inhibitor such as the Techfilter option. There is a good reason for the extensive no root intrusion warranty from Netafim.

my concern wasn't so much root intrusion but the the roots choking the drip line. I have seen that a few times where the drip line is actually in the center of the root ball completely choked off.

I have attached the plan for the planting. The grasses are Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal' or Blue switch grass and the spacing is 2' on center and the are 1 gallon containers.

[mitchgo]

I agree with netafim or 12" Sprays close by staggered with a low volume nozzle

[Kiril]

Originally Posted by greenmonster304

my concern wasn't so much root intrusion but the the roots choking the drip line. I have seen that a few times where the drip line is actually in the center of the root ball completely choked off.

Yes, this is possible even when buried , but is less likely the deeper you go. This is why when I build a grid in areas where there is a potential for lines getting pinched due to growth I do several things.

1. Design the grid with forethought to the mature size of the plant(s).
   
2. Have frequent tie-ins to all laterals.
   
3. Increase the source points if possible.

Doing the above minimizes, if not eliminates, the chance that a pinched line will cause failure of large portions of the system.