Lawn and citrus don't mix because as you said, it wants watering deep then let the soil dry up before next watering. But if you must plant your plant in your lawn you must deflect the water so the water does not touch your citrus and the soil stay dry until your next watering. Citrus does not want wet feet overnight. Also plant the citrus in a mound and make sure no grass stays within a foot off the trunk.
Satsuma is a good candidate but my favorite is Dancy and Honey comes close second.

I am by no means an expert, but I would just add that I find that in-ground citrus trees do tend to do a little better around here (I'm in the Bay Area sunset zone 17) when you can occasionally give them a slow deep watering. I have a *bratty* Meyer that I just struggled with for a while and I think programmed sprinkler watering and the occasional hose was just not enought for the tree in summer. It really did a LOT better when I wouId just drag the hose over to it and turn it on so that would just drip for a few hours, maybe every 2 weeks or so in the summertime. I don't know if it was not getting enough water or if I was just leaching the soil but it really helped. Same for another in-ground citrus, which didn't look nearly as bad but it really took off with deep irrigation in our very dry climate (though that Meyer still kinda looks like cr**...).

The other thing is that I have seen a few homes where they had lovely, old citrus trees (I would guess dwarf navel orange) growing in their front lawns, but both were in a little semi-raised planter kinda like a tree-ring but bigger and slightly mounded--without grass immediately around the trunk. So maybe try a little brick or other masonry in a ring and mound dirt to elevate it a little for drainage and keep the grass at bay like bencelest wrote.

I like satsuma too, as well as Clementine--I think mine is Algerian, not sure. It seems to be an alternate bearer for me, but otherwise hasn't been particularly difficult. Satsuma is seedless but a very slow grower. If your summers aren't very hot ( does Santa Rosa get very warm? I think maybe a little more than here against the bay) you could think about Pixie mandarins too--my tree is too young to bear, but the store-bought fruit I had was fantastic and seedless. I liked it so much I bought a tree! Supposed to be good for coastal climates.

HTH.

A clementine with a modicum of care will do fine for you. I would strongly suggest, however, that you sacrifice at least 18 inches ( in every direction from your citrus trunk) of your lawn. Citrus abhor competing with grass and underplantings. Go buy it; you'll do fine.

Hello Annie,

Have you considered planting the proposed citrus in a "border area" of the lawn? Just to throw out an idea  you could create a space between your house and the lawn and maybe even gain some shade in the process and have less lawn to mow!! This would allow for the "clear perimeter" of 18 inches that you need around the trunk. Feeding your citrus would be easier, too, since you do not have to compete with your lawn "regime"!

This is common in my area, where you see established bushed growing happily!

As far as type, any of the mandrins should work, or you might want to think about a blood orange (Moro)... Check with the really knowledgeable folks at Four Winds Growers. Their website is: http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/. They have some really helpful people!!

Good luck!! - Bubbacat

Annie:
I live in an older neighborhood in coastal San Diego; there are dozens of citrus growing in the middle of lawns in my neighborhood without being built up or ringed, etc. Obviously our climate is a little bit different from yours, but you can get to grow and thrive in lawns. The problem is that the fruit doesn't get very flavorful. The grass sucks up most of the nutrients before the tree can get what it needs for fruit production.

If you're looking to grow the trees as ornamentals, then this isn't a problem. If you want to eat the fruit, don't let the grass grow within a couple of feet of the trunk and you should be fine.

Well, here's my 2 cents. When I bought my house 3 years ago my yard was a weed & rock mess. There was a tangerine bush in it. It did have fruit, but it was seedy. Within a year, I installed a lawn and created a 2 foot circle around the trunk and edged it with river rock. I also pruned the lower bottom half of the tree in order for my kids to go under it and hang out. Well, its been 2 years now and it gave fruit this year (or a few months ago) and they were huge, delicious and about 98% seedless. The sprinklers that water the lawn helped it out, and it has grown very tall now.

So my case is that it worked well with the lawn and sprinkler. But then again, I am in zone 9 in So. Cal, and our summers are cookers! I also water deep in the morning and not 3 times a day or so like other people. I think you should be fine with the tree in your lawn, just not sure how your zone would react to the watering from the sprinklers. Drive around and check out your area and see if its common. It is out here.