Irrigation of a hedge in a raised planter

Question

So I've just finished planting this yew hedge in a box and am thinking about laying some drip hose to water it. It occurred to me that I ought to have buried the hose before planting. I'm in bergen, Norway so too much rain is normally the problem! I'd like to train the hedge outward so all the soil is covered, but I guess this'll drastically reduce the amount of rain getting into the plant. Does it make any difference to bury the hose for a hedge like this, or is surface irrigation sufficient enough?

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Answer 1

My guess is that if you bury the hose, it will be like a drain, and roots will grow into the holes following the water source. Best to keep it above ground so that you can keep the drip holes clear, and so that there is some surface water for the upper roots.

Answer 2

You normally don't bury the drip hose in the soil. You place it over the soil and you cover it with mulch. Make sure you use drip emitter tubing instead of soaker hoses. Soaker hoses don't water evenly. They put out more water near the water source than at the end and if there's a slope it makes things worse. Yews are pretty sensitive to too much water.

But before you do anything. Make sure you even need any type of irrigation. Depending on where you live you may not need any irrigation at all. Yews like well draining soil and too much water will be bad. You don't indicate where you live but in many places yews will only need watering when you first plant them and then maybe a little bit in the summer. I have some yews in the ground and I've never watered them. Rain takes care of it. In containers like you have it will probably need more watering but it's going to depend on your soil and climate. If I were you I'd wait and see.