Drip watering systems for Great Plains windbreaks

Excerpt

TREE survival in the Great Plains is difficult, a fact demonstrated by more than 50 years of windbreak planting experience. The need for watering windbreaks has long been known, but the time and labor needed for hand watering often discourages landowners. The advent of drip watering systems in the 1970s, however, sparked interest in the Great Plains. More recently, use of drip watering systems has boomed because the systems provide a simple, efficient, and low-cost means of watering trees and shrubs.

A 60 percent survival rate is typical for windbreak trees in the Great Plains; a 30 percent rate or less is common for some species. By using drip watering during tree establishment, a 90 percent survival rate can be achieved. The temporary systems are not designed to provide continuous irrigation, but rather water as needed. They are not used to maximize growth.

Basically, a drip watering system consists of lateral lines, usually one-half-inch polyethylene pipe, placed in each tree row and fitted with a pressure-compensating emitter at each tree. The lateral lines are connected to a main supply line from the water source, often an existing hydrant at the farmstead. At the water source is …