Drip Emitters Can Plug Easily If You Are Not Careful

Pvc glue plugging an irrigation bubbler
after a repair

Q. A few years ago I had a bubbler system installed to water my trees for my desert landscaping. They did not do a good great job. It has gotten plugged a few times and the trees do not get enough water. I have gone through four trees and maybe another. Would you give me some names of trees that are truly drought resistant?

A. I hesitate giving you suggestions on plants because that is a highly subjective decision and secondly without a reliable irrigation system nothing will work in our desert except maybe Joshua trees. Besides, in our desert there are no ornamental and shade trees that will survive or look good without a good irrigation system.

Y filter for drip irrigation



Salt accumulation on a drip emitter



Make sure your irrigation system has a 150 to 200 mesh filter installed somewhere before the water reaches the emitters. This will reduce plugging. Make sure that when you or anyone repairs a drip system that they DO NOT use a pipe cutting device that rips the piping. So do not use a hacksaw or other pipe cutter that uses teeth to rip at the pipe. This will leave pipe debris in the lines that will (guaranteed) plug your emitters.

PVC cutter that does not leave debris in the pipes

Use only a cutting device that has an unserrated knife edge that cuts the piping. Use pipe cutters instead. They are more expensive but will actually work quite well. I don’t care how careful you think you are, don’t use devices that rip or shred on any part of a drip system. Once you have a reliable irrigation system then you can plant some good stuff.

Lawns Brown Spots Can Be Dogs and Poor Sprinkler Coverage

Dog urine damage leaves a dark green edge
around the damaged brown spot caused by the urine

Most likely there is a popup sprinkler in the center of that
green patch surrounded by bare soil. It is most likely
a two inch popup when a four inch is needed in tall fescue

Q. My lawn was sodded with tall fescue lawn grass a few years back and this past fall noticed I still have two problems. The pictures attached. The first are five to ten inch circles which are brown in the center with very dark green grass around it. The second are areas around the edge where there is a patch of dark green grass and then 10-15 inches of bare ground around it. I am really hoping you can provide an explanation and solution to resolve these.


A. The third picture, brown ten inch circles with dark green on the outside, looks like damage from a urinating dog. Urine results in a small round brown area where the grass is darker green around the dead spot. Readers can see these pictures by following my blog at http://www.xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/

Popup sprinklers need clearance over the grass
if they are going to cover the lawn area evenly

The urine is too high in salts (urea, a salt high in nitrogen) and burns the immediate area around where it is applied. As the urea moves into the surrounding soil it becomes more dilute, reducing the burning, and then acts like a fertilizer high in nitrogen. Nitrogen fertilizers turn grass a dark green.

The other picture with 10 to 15 inches of bare ground around a green area, looks like the sprinkler head is in the center of that small green area next to the curb. If that is the case, I am guessing the popup is not “popping” high enough. Make sure it pops up all the way and is not getting blocked. Make sure your irrigation sprinklers are 4 inch and not 2 inch popups. Two inch popups do not pop up high enough to spray evenly above the top of a grass mowed at two inches in height. The grass height interferes with the water spray.

Pressure regulator

Also check your water pressure. It should be in the 40 to 50 psi range for most popups. If it is a lot higher than this, then your sprinklers are probably “fogging” and not delivering the right sized droplets to get even coverage over the lawn. Install a pressure regulator to drop the water pressure in the appropriate range recommended by the irrigation manufacturer for the sprinklers and nozzles.

Your tall fescue does not look very luxurious in general. It would improve from some good lawn management practices. Tall fescue is best if mowed no shorter than 1½ inch, and 2 inches is even better. Use a mulching mower and return the clippings to the lawn; don’t bag them and leave them for the garbage.

Roots of turfgrass grow easily into holes punched in
the lawn by an aerifier

Try aerating the lawn any time of the year and follow this with an application of a good quality lawn fertilizer. If you are returning the clippings to the lawn then fertilize Labor Day, Memorial Day and 4th of July. Be sure you also make an application around Thanksgiving to keep your lawn dark green through the winter months.

Lack of Cucumbers Leaves Gardener in a Pickle



Armenian Cucumber

 Q. I live in Las Vegas and want to grow baby cucumbers for pickling. I tried to grow some last Spring but was not successful. I didn't realize until the plants were about 1ft tall that I was supposed to thin them out. I did thin them but it may have been too late. The plants looked good and grew well but when they began to flower, the little tiny cucumbers got very dry and hard and shriveled up.


The pot was getting full sun most of the afternoon so my husband built an open lattice over the top for some light shade. As the later part of June approached the plants were not looking good and I gave them up, with the intention of trying again, maybe in the fall when it's cooler? I was so looking forward to growing and pickling my own.

A. Cucumbers have a fairly narrow time for production here as it gets too hot, from about late March or early April to about June. They can suffer from chilling damage if temperatures get below about 50F.

You can plant again in September since they have a fairly short production time, about 60 days. Soils should be well composted and fertilized before planting. No lack of water for these plants or you will have problems. Soils must be kept moist so cover the soil with straw mulch or other mulch you can till or spade in afterwards.

You will have less waste if you trellis them rather than letting them lay on the soil. In the warm times you will pick three times a week. The easiest to grow is Armenian cucumber but will not make very good pickles. Others to try for pickles might be Eureka and Valispik. Other vegetables and even fruit make great pickles as well.