Turf in the desert

[orezok]

Turf is something you rarely see around here. Because of weather conditions and high water prices, nobody has it. The only turf you see at schools is the football field. Baseball and all other schools play on dirt!

Anyway, my wife wanted a little patch of turf for the dog. She (the dog) likes to roll on the grass when we go camping and when she does it on our sandy soil, she gets completely covered with dirt.

The biggest drawbacks are the temperatures, the wind and the high cost of water. With normal irrigation, the wind blows 1/3 of the water away and the heat evaporates another 1/3 before the turf can get it.

I decided to give subterranean drip a try. The wind and heat will have little effect and I'm hoping to get by with less than half the water.

I'm using a Rainbird product that has .6 GPH emitters at 12" centers. The lines are placed 12" apart. The drip emitters have a small piece of copper in them that keeps the roots from growing in. I completed the first half and turned the water on to see how it would work. The pictures were takes after it had been on only a couple of minutes.

I will be putting 4" of top soil over the lines after I complete staking them in straight lines and spacing.

I don't know how well this will work, but I'm giving it a try.

 

[EddieWalker]

Interesting. Be nice to have some green around your house. Please post pics of your progress and update us with your results.

Eddie

 

[daveshoot]

This doesn't always work out so well, but you are well on your way already. You will want check valves inline! They keep the lines from draining and sucking dirt back into the emitters. Emitters that small also need a filtered water supply, because of their tendency to clog.

I know the copper is supposed to inhibit roots but turfgrass might be a little more than they were designed to prevent. In the desert, subsurface is also likely to give a corduroy effect with turf, depending on the soil. Anyway, if you get it established and running for a couple years, you can always switch to stream rotors later.

 

[orezok]

This doesn't always work out so well, but you are well on your way already. You will want check valves inline! They keep the lines from draining and sucking dirt back into the emitters. Emitters that small also need a filtered water supply, because of their tendency to clog.

I know the copper is supposed to inhibit roots but turfgrass might be a little more than they were designed to prevent. In the desert, subsurface is also likely to give a corduroy effect with turf, depending on the soil. Anyway, if you get it established and running for a couple years, you can always switch to stream rotors later.

I'm following Rainbird's recommendation to install and air/vacuum relief valve that allows air to enter at the highest elevation. This allows the water to drain OUT through the emitters, never pulling in silt. The Rainbird Coppershield tubing is specifically designed for turf grass and has proven to work well. Finally I installed the Rainbird control valve which incorporates a 200 mesh filter and built in 40 PSI regulator.

Only time will tell.