Scattered rainfall in arid and semi-arid regions is detrimental to newly planted seedlings. As a result, it is essential to store the water needed for seedlings in regenerative projects in the first years of their establishment. In this regard, subsurface irrigation can be more effective than the traditional method of surface irrigation. For this purpose, a study was conducted in the lands of Isfahan University of Technology. Initially, clay reservoirs with a capacity of 4.75 liters were made from different amounts of manure and straw to produce reservoirs with different permeabilities (low, medium and high with hydraulic conductivity of 0.06, 0.08 and 0.2 cm/day, respectively). After preparing the clay reservoirs and taking them out of the kiln, 50 cm long and 50 cm deep holes were dug, so that the distance each pit to the next pit was 2 m. Clay reservoirs were placed inside the pits, so that 5 cm of their openings protruded from the soil. In order to prevent water evaporation inside the reservoirs, ceramic lids were placed on the reservoirs. Experimental treatments (including irrigation methods and tree species) were considered as a split plot in a completely randomized design with three replications. Growth and survival indices of four seedlings including Tree of Heaven ( Ailanthus altissima ), Chinaberry ( Melia azedarach ), White mulberry ( Morus alba ) and Black Locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia ) with moderate water requirement were examined. The results showed that height, basal diameter, number of leaves, chlorophyll content and stomatal conductance in subsurface irrigation with low permeability reservoirs were significantly higher than surface irrigation (P 0.05), while The number of branches of the studied plants was not significantly affected by irrigation method and different permeabilities of clay reservoirs (P 0.05). Low permeability clay reservoirs provided better conditions for plant growth than high permeability clay reservoirs and to some extent medium-permeability clay reservoirs, because they provided water and nutrients to the plant continuously and at low pressures at longer intervals. The results in four studied species also showed that water use efficiency in subsurface irrigation was higher than surface irrigation. The highest percentage of plant survival was related to subsurface irrigation and control treatment (surface irrigation) showed the lowest survival percentages of 60, 70, 80 and 100 for Morus alba , Melia azedarach , Ailanthus altissima and Robinia pseudoacacia , respectively. Leaf water potential ??showed that Robinia pseudoacacia is the most drought tolerant plant compared to other planted trees. Examining the irrigation interval treatments (once a month, once every two weeks, once a week and twice a week), it seems that the 14 day irrigation interval treatment is suitable for the establishment and survival of Robinia pseudoacacia seedlings. In the present study, the weight of weeds at the end of the growing season in surface irrigation (218 g) was higher than in subsurface irrigation (50 g). Evaluation of the efficiency of clay reservoirs in subsurface irrigation for the use of unconventional water showed that the percentage of discharge of the control reservoir with conventional water was higher than the reservoirs with saline water and water contaminated with nitrate and phosphate. The rate of discharge decreases with increasing salinity of water and the amount of nitrate and phosphate in irrigation water to some extent that this decrease was not noticeable and was attributed to higher viscosity of saline water and water contaminated with nitrate and phosphate. Simulation of moisture distribution using HYDRUS model showed that this software has a good ability to simulate moisture distribution, so that the correlation coefficient between the measured and simulated values ??in different permeability treatments was 91% to 85%. In fact, what was presented about the studied plant species in general confirmed the positive effect of subsurface irrigation on the growth and survival traits of the studied plants.