I'd like to bury some pvc for irrigation near where I plan to put some citrus. How close is too close? The pvc will be 12" below grade. Thanks.

I am not an expert, but I can only see 2 possible problems-- one is the root damage from digging near the tree, but that can be avoided by jetting the pipe by the tree like you would to go under a driveway or sidewalk. The second is the the irrigation itself-- citrus trees do not like frequent watering. I had to move one of my sprinkler heads to stop my mandarin from dropping leaves.

Bottom line is that the pvc pipe itself should not hurt the tree.

thanks.

I plan to run a supply line about 3 or 4' near where I plan to put some citrus. However, I don't plan to have sprinkler heads nearby.

My main concern was whether I might run into troubles if I need to dig up the PVC or make some changes later. I don't want to do too much damage to the root system. But, I do want to get the lines somewhat close to the tree. About how far do citrus roots spread out? Are they confined for the most part to the circumference of the tree?

Again, I'm not an expert, but most trees have roots that are slightly larger than the spread of the canopy. The feeder roots are typically just beyond the drip line or the outer edge of the leaves.

Depending on the type of soil you have, jetting the pipe can be easy (in sandy soil-- hard if you have rocks)-- just tape a garden hose to the piece of pipe you want to run with some duck tape, turn the water on and use the other end of the pipe to bore a hole through the ground to the other side of your tree-- you just have to did a somewhat larger hole where you start.