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I've also had mediocre success with soaker hose.  After a season it  
develops "leaks", and most of the water flows through a few spots.  I  
put in some emitters last year.  I haven't tried turning them on yet  
this year, but there's no visible winter damage.  They were great for  
getting baby trees started.  I didn't even use a timer or anything -  
just turned the system on when it had been dry for a while.

Long term, my climate is damp enough that I don't expect to need  
irrigation for my trees.  I do plan to irrigate again this year,  
because it was a very dry winter, and my trees were severely stressed  
by caterpillars and deer last year, so they are still getting  
started.  I am using the widest-spreading emitter in the catalog for  
them, and I will irrigate rarely but deeply, in the hopes of  
encouraging the roots to grow down.  Ask me in a few more years and  
I'll let you know how it goes.

Ginda
eastern Mass., zone 6

On Apr 2, 2006, at 10:06 PM, Michelle Horner wrote:

> I only have 25 trees in a mixed dwarf orchard.  I thought I was  
> being so
> clever.  I mapped out and planned; permanently installed  
> approximately 30 ft
> per tree of soaker hose spiraled out from the trunk.  I pinned it  
> into place
> with wire earthpins that I hand made over winter.  I figured I  
> could water 4
> trees at a time with hoses from a 4 head diverter; even installed the
> requisite pressure valve.  Covered the hose with 6 inches of straw  
> mulch.
> Did the same in several flower and hosta beds.  It was a complete  
> bust.  It
> took me two summers to be enthused enough to clear the detritus.   
> The soaker
> hose was terrible; very irregular in its dripping patterns.  I'll  
> do it
> again with the more suggested drip heads.  I think they have  
> improved these
> a lot in the past 2 to 3 years.  They've developed reliable plugs  
> for the
> hosing if you need to move the drip heads, timers to turn on/off  
> that are
> easy to adjust for different times of the year (drought/wet), etc.   
> I just
> need to redevelop the enthusiasm to reset the whole operation.  SIGH.
> Please learn from my mistakes!
>
> Michelle Horner  zone 4/5 SE WI
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> Subject: [NAFEX] Advice on drip irrigation
>
>
> > I am interested in setting up a drip irrigation system for my fruit
> > trees in New Jersey (zone 6). I have two 30 ft rows w. trees spaced
> > every 5 feet. I am a little lost about how to start. While I am sure
> > that water needs vary by time of year/region, any general  
> > guidelines on
> > setting things up, volume of water to use, etc. Would a simple soaker
> > hose be just as good for my small operation?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
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