Are Your Trees Thirsty?

Watering trees sounds simple enough. Surprisingly, it’s not that easy given that new trees die in the landscape from lack of water every year. It has been especially critical this year as the weather continues to get warmer. Here’s the secret: Find a way to get water slowly to the root ball. Use a trickling hose, drip irrigation, a TreeGator or a bucket with a small hole in it. Anything to ensure slow delivery so water can gradually soak into the root-ball. Forget sprinkler irrigation and especially rainfall. We cringe whenever we hear some say, “Oh, I think it’s going to rain soon”. Unless it’s a monsoon, forget any rainfall watering your newly planted tree effectively. Remember, newly planted trees must live entirely off the moisture in their root-ball until roots grow away to surrounding soils. Give them a chance.