Plantanista

We have done Techline on a grid in one of the gardens we maintain for over eight years, gradually converting mixed planting beds from the antiquated spray system installed back in the 70's. It is true that self-cleaning, pressure-regulated in-line emmiter tubing is more expensive than conventional drip or spray. However, the benefits and longevity of a properly installed grid will save countless hours and significant amounts of water over the long haul.

Because moisture is uniformly distributed, there is no "irrigation bondage" of the root system, i.e., roots growing only where there is available water from an emitter. This is significant and eliminates one of the big downsides of drip vs. spray. The grid is in a predictable configuration, so change-out or augmentation of plantings is easy and doesn't result in sliced-up spaghetti tubing, a constant maintenance nightmare, particularly in gardens where less-than-stellar maintenance has preceded our involvement in a garden.

Over time, we've observed a few keys to success, one of them being a requirement to hand water *new* plantings for a couple of weeks to get healthy root balls established. We also regularly replenish the mulch both for aesthetic reasons, and to protect the tubing from solar degradation. Repeated short cycles allow percolation of moisture through the soil with no runoff in clay. This doesn't mean shallow watering, but gradual application of water for on less frequent watering days. This encourages deeper rooting and greater drought resistance.

This system is sometimes a hard sell to homeowners and installing contractors, but we've now successfully deployed "the grid" in at least half of the gardens we maintain and it is almost exclusively my choice for mixed beds of perennials, shrubs, and trees when I design and install new gardens.

We have done Techline on a grid in one of the gardens we maintain for over eight years, gradually converting mixed planting beds from the antiquated spray system installed back in the 70's. It is true that self-cleaning, pressure-regulated in-line emmiter tubing is more expensive than conventional drip or spray. However, the benefits and longevity of a properly installed grid will save countless hours and significant amounts of water over the long haul.

Because moisture is uniformly distributed, there is no "irrigation bondage" of the root system, i.e., roots growing only where there is available water from an emitter. This is significant and eliminates one of the big downsides of drip vs. spray. The grid is in a predictable configuration, so change-out or augmentation of plantings is easy and doesn't result in sliced-up spaghetti tubing, a constant maintenance nightmare, particularly in gardens where less-than-stellar maintenance has preceded our involvement in a garden.

Over time, we've observed a few keys to success, one of them being a requirement to hand water *new* plantings for a couple of weeks to get healthy root balls established. We also regularly replenish the mulch both for aesthetic reasons, and to protect the tubing from solar degradation. Repeated short cycles allow percolation of moisture through the soil with no runoff in clay. This doesn't mean shallow watering, but gradual application of water for on less frequent watering days. This encourages deeper rooting and greater drought resistance.

This system is sometimes a hard sell to homeowners and installing contractors, but we've now successfully deployed "the grid" in at least half of the gardens we maintain and it is almost exclusively my choice for mixed beds of perennials, shrubs, and trees when I design and install new gardens.