Geez cascadians...........have you considered soaker hoses? :)

***Difficult because leaves can't be wet after about 8/a or they'll scorch.****
What type of leaves? My sprinkler system takes all day to run thru its cycles which means the leaves on most of my plants are getting wet. I've never had scorching.

Meant like an oven ... yep soaker hoses but when they spring a leak they don't work correctly. Big scorching problem here, thujas this year lots of brown from sun. Yesterday some water got on a magnolia branch and it's fried to a crisp. Tried to get an irrigation system put in when started but since fire hydrant on property every plumber said codes too strict, wouldn't do it.

This is the last summer before the 3-year establishment period has been reached so I'm hoping the roots all grow LOTS this fall and next summer isn't this demanding.

Although of course in this kind of heat watering during the night will always be necessary. Latest forecast
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=pqr&sid=pqr&pil=afd

now says Saturday will be 105 degrees also. It was so hot during the night it made me queasy going out moving sprinklers. Smelled odd too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Portland Weather Forecast, official text

The theory that water on foliage during the day with the heat of the sun will cause scorching is a myth......it just doesn't hold water :-)) The recommendation that watering be avoided during midday results from the increased evaporation at that occurs then - more water is wasted into the atmosphere than reaches the root zone - irrigation is just less efficient during the heat of the day. If not a soaker, then a drip system would most definitely reduce the need for you to be hauling sprinklers and hoses all over all night. Both can be run at any time of the day and are considered far more efficient in delivering water to root systems than are sprinklers, hand watering or pop-up irrigation heads. Worth looking into :-))

cascadian, I just have to conclude that you live in a rather unique microclimate :-) It seems to be wetter/drier or hotter/colder than other surrounding areas. I do realize my Puget Sound climate is milder than your Willamette valley one, but I water only occasionally for anything in the ground (excluding any containers) - maybe once a week, if that frequently. And Saturday is predicted to be a scorcher for us as well. I'm wondering if it is simply the density of your plantings that is creating more of an irrigation need than a more sparcely planted garden would require??? All night, every night seems unnaturally frequent for most suburban lots.

Yes, I live in an alien outpost of Mars. The scorch here is a reality. Will take picture of poor magnolia branch that got water on leaves recently and by night was fried crispy. I've tried soakers but they haven't worked for long. Will look into a drip irrigation system. That would be so lovely if it worked. With hand-watering at least I can see exactly what I'm doing and direct the amount of water exactly where it should go. It's wetter here in winter because of a high water table, 1st property that doesn't slope so much going downhill in Willamette-Clackamas watershed. But not as much rain here. On tiny bit of hillside so very hot in sun, but when the 300+ trees grow up it will be nice and shady.

Already cooler here than when we're out and about. The density of greenery helps. But everyplace today is hot hot hot, even the coast (according to the news) and up in the Cascades. Record-breaking heat.

Planted several trees that will completely cover the roof eventually in summertime. That will help with cooling. Vines on the east side cover about 1/6 of roof now and are growing. Planning to replace roof fairly soon but don't know with what yet, lots of materials to consider. Roof is only 10 years old and is in good shape so far.

Think maybe we were so freaked by the standing lake in winter that we devised too good of a drainage system so the earth doesn't hold water well. Also, the whole yard is raised and the topsoil is a 4-way-blend that hasn't solidified and compacted completely yet. so it's fairly porous. I keep thinking it's enough watering but if I let off at all the plants droop. 1st 200 or so trees planted Dec05 so by next spring it will be finally 3 Falls in the ground for those roots to establish and then supposedly not so much watering necessary. Will have to baby the newer plantings as we go.

The yard, the earth, the plantings, the creeklets, the erosion control measures -- it's all too new still to hold its own. Hoping by next summer everything is more settled and independent. It is supposed to become very low-maintenance. This January I'll be doing the 1st major pruning marathon. Fortunately those salix smithiana rootstocks went completely nutso and grew into a big willow thicket that has shaded everything else enough to allow survival through this summer.

Our neighbors just threw a bunch of camping stuff into their father's truck and headed for the hills. Their house is too hot to inhabit, no heat pump. They're renting, have an automatic irrigation system but don't run it and have let their once-formerly-gorgeous yard to go pot and die. Used to be rented by a landscaper (when we bought this house) and it was so pretty there.

HOT HOT HOT today. Yesterday. And supposedly tomorrow.

Our little plot of Mars (many trees still a foot high or less so aren't visible yet):

There are many causes of leaf scorch, but irrigation with fresh water is certainly not one of them.
Hundreds of scientific publications on crop plants, turf, woody shrubs and trees have examined foliar
scorch, and not one of them has implicated midday irrigation as a causal agent. What does cause damage,
however, is suboptimal plant-water relations, which can result in tip and marginal leaf scorch, shoot
dieback, stunted growth, and leaf abscission. After drought, the most common source of these problems
is salt, in particular salts containing sodium (Na) and/or chlorine (Cl)

Here is a link that might be useful: The Myth of Hot-Weather Watering

Well, the pumpkin patch is doing okay. I was up at 6:00 doing the first section of watering. Watered until 10:30 and then I had to go to work but not everything got covered (it's a gigantor patch) Now it's 9;30 at night and against my better judgement there is a sprinkler on down there. Worried about the mildew factor. I have not experienced scorch either, when the watering happens mid- day. This will pass, but it is sure hard to handle while we're in the midst of it.

Well, i've had a completely opposite approach to watering, and i admit to being a little nervous about it. This is the second year for most everything in my garden, and while last year i watered every other day (oh, the water bills!), this year i'm down to about once a week. During these few heat waves we've had, i've been more careful.

I'm hoping the roots are digging deep in their thirst, and that my stingy watering will result in stronger plants in the long run. Next year will tell. I hope i'm not doing them a disservice.

These were taken yesterday. See how brown the field grass is?

I think i'll water again tomorrow. I hope everything comes back in a flourish next year ...

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Cascadians: I would strongly recommend a drip system which can be customized with a tiny sprayer where desired. I put one in myself and there are several brands to choose from. I used "Dig" bought at Home Depot.

Now, I am a nearly sixty year old woman, not one of those very thin, fit flexible types either: aches and pains, sedentary job, not very strong--but I did it myself over my approx. 1 acre, fairly complex garden and orchard, to my husband's amazement. The instructions are pretty self-explanatory.

This weekend is a perfect day for it, no matter how hot it gets because the heat of the sun will relax the tubing, allowing you to unroll it easily and because if you leave the water pressure on in the tube while you move along (mostly on your knees and lying on your side) punching holes where the emitter to each plant goes, you will get soaked! You will laugh the whole time (at yourself). It is the gardeners equivalent of childhood "running through the sprinklers" only, when it's done you have a DIY drip system. Without it I could never get everything watered before I have to go to work. A colleague of mine had one put in professionally and it cost her thousands, for a smallish yard. Mine cost me hundreds, and boy did I get wet.

I cannot fathom what type of landscape requires so much water. You know that plants sometimes droop their leaves to deal with hot temps, right? It isn't a sign that you should haul out the hoses. I wonder if all the water is keeping some of them in a more tender state. I had severe burn on a fatsia back in May when the fresh leaves took an unusual hit from the sun on hot day. Since then no problems, not even this week, and I decided it was just too early in the year for it to cope with the heat and bright sun. Is it possible that you are babying your plants too much? Get some sleep!

See full discussion at page linked to above for more about damage to plants during hot weather.

PDXLights, thank you so much for the advice about the "Dig" drip watering system at Home Depot. I will definitely be looking at that. A day or two or three of crawling around getting wet would be nothing compared to what I'm already going through :-)

Almost all the trees and plants in here are swamp varieties that love water because in the winter it is very very wet, often a standing lake. Summer, however, is hell. Lots of raised beds that bake straight through in 100 degree days. So watering is necessary, and no doubt these are all still in a tender state, and if any scientist wants proof that water on leaves in sun does cause scorch they are welcome to come watch it in my yard, indisputable here.

When these trees establish they won't need so much water. The topsoil is settling so there's not quite as much depth necessary for the roots to reach the water table. 2' should do it nicely. Grow roots grow!

Forecast today: more record-breaking heat, extreme fire danger.

You should try a technique I used in Olympia, where I had clay soil that became saturated in winter and went completely dry and cracked in summer. I call it 'horticultural Darwinism'. Fall planting was usually unfeasible, because the plants would just drown in winter before they could get established. So anything planted in spring, and mulched generously (wood chips or grass clippings seemed to keep moisture in the best) could either survive the summer with no water - or not. That's sort of how my Australian plant collection came to take over my garden. Northern Hemisphere swamp trees didn't take to well to the summer dry period. It also probably helped that I started with small plants that could establish quickly without having too much top growth to be supported by a root system in a disproportionately small pot.

Ian, if only I had your wisdom when I started, I would have planted different types of trees. Everybody told me the only way any tree would survive would be to raise the yard above the water table so the top roots could breathe and the trees could get used to the winter lakes. Everybody said to plant as many water-sucking trees as possible. I didn't learn about planting small trees until I stumbled across GardenWeb, after the 1st 200 trees were planted, was a total newbie. Since then have planted small trees which indeed have fared better. And have added mostly Eucalypti after enduring a couple summers.

Unfortunately, Frank is no longer in the euc biz so it looks like I'll have to connect with you, Ian, for more saplings if I get an inch opening up in here.

The frustrating thing is that the water table is still very high and the tap roots should hit it this fall for those trees planted Dec05. When the neighbors put in their fence last summer, the holes they dug completely filled with water overnight, and that was late August and they never water their yard.

The idea was always to have the root crowns in somewhat loose rich topsoil where they could breathe in summer while their deep roots slurped up the lakes underneath. But I think I dug too many creeklets too well and it drains the top too well now.

The ferocious heat we're having really dries out the soil fast. Planted a lot of erosion control grass to keep the topsoil from washing out the yard in the whitewater turbulence of winter and it's helping keep the moisture in, plus I keep wormcasting trees as fast as the worms can poop :-) If it would just stay in the 80s I could get some sleep. At least the sun goes down and comes up a little later now, more time for the sprinklers to run.

The ground under the top soil is heavy icky clay, formerly a leach field, and stinks if one digs into it. Supposed to be good for swamp trees!

Ian, hopefully you'll see my yard this summer ... Frank is hoping to do one last Cistus tour and have you with him. The eucs just love it here. The scoparias are growing so fast it's unreal. They're not supposed to like huge amounts of water but they are watered a LOT and love it. Think it is because they're both close to the edge of raised beds and get a lot of direct heat and sun. The camphora is ecstactic and the volcanica and nitens are putting on feet upwards this summer. The bogong is happily growing beyond its stake as has the urn. They all seem to have "taken" and taken off. The crenulata is springing all over. There's just 2 that are slow. Apparently they grow their roots first before their tops.

Even the acacia is now growing after not doing much of anything for 2 years. The locusts and mimosas love this heat and blazing sun. Yes, I would have planted less northern trees in such abundance if I had known the realities of summer in this yard. Would have planted lots of camphoras -- such a thriving gorgeous evergreen tree, Lynn's favorite. Will probably be begging you for camphoras soon!

The dripline below is all you need. I installed 500 ft of it 4 years ago for my perimeter trees on 1 1/2 acres and it's never failed me. I believe mine has the emitters with 12" spacing.
You just lay it out, use a few metal stakes to hold it in place and connect it to a faucet. A timer can be used but we usually turn ours on late evening and turn it off the next morning.

I've put in a lot of what pdx described and it has its uses, but you'll find the landscape dripline easier to use around trees. The only upkeep I have to do is walk it every few weeks to make sure all the emitters are working.

You can find the tubing at Ewings or Horizon. HD or Lowes doesn't carry it.

Here is a link that might be useful: dripline

Now it is like a sauna ...

Thank you Annz!