- Author: Gerry L Hernandez
There is a great article about watering your trees in the Sacramento Bee today. I am going to highlight a few points and attach a link so you can read the entire article.
- Without trees, our area will be hotter with more air pollution and less wildlife.
- 12.5 million forest trees have already died in California due to the drought.
- Many people have cut back or stopped watering their lawn but the trees still need to be watered.
- Treat your trees like Mother Nature
o Water deep and slow.
o Make sure the water reaches at least 12 inches (we recommend 24 inches).
o Water early in the morning or after sunset. That is when trees naturally replace water they have lost to heat during the day.
o Apply water directly to the drip line with a hose on a gentle trickle, soaker hose, drip lines or buckets.
o Don't prune or fertilize.
o Mimic Mother Nature by mulching. Spread mulch (wood chips, bark, straw, shredded leaves, pine needles, compost, etc.) in a circle around the tree 2-4 inches thick and at least 3 feet wide.
- Stressed out trees.
o Coastal redwood
o European white birch
o Pines
- Even drought tolerant trees such as crepe myrtles and native California sycamores are showing signs of stress.
Click here to read the entire article.
My neighbor decided to stop watering her lawn but still water her trees. She bought a soaker hose and circled the tree to the drip line.
- The first week she water for 2 ½ hours and the water was on full blast.
- Moisture reached 26 inches.
- The second week she measured again and the moisture was at 12 inches.
- The third week she watered again for 2 ½ hours but not at full blast.
- Moisture reached 24 inches.
- It looks like she will water every other week.
- The first picture is her lawn with the soaker hose.
- Author: Gerry L Hernandez
As Master Gardeners, we give out a lot of information but we don't know if anyone uses the information. On Thursday, my neighbor came over and wanted to tell me about her new tree watering system.
She read our flyer about the TRIC system (tree ring irrigation contraption) and decided she wanted to give it a try. She had already decided to stop watering her lawn but like most of us didn't think about watering the trees in the lawn.
Here is what she did;
- Bought a 75 foot soaker hose at a local business. The soaker hose costs about $25.
- Circled the tree at the one foot spacing.
- Let it run for 2 hours.
- After 2 1/2 hours she checked the soil. She was able to insert a rod down 26 inches.
Getting water down to 26 inches is great!
We are going to monitor the soil moisture every week to determine when she needs to water again. I will let you know each week's progress.
There are many different ways to set up a TRIC, soaker hose, in-line drip, or drip emitters. You can hook it up to the existing irrigation's system and timer or attach it to a hose.
No matter how you do it, remember to water your trees!
- Author: Gerry L Hernandez
Trees are our most important garden asset. They provide shade, clean the air, provide habitat for wildlife, they are beautiful and increase property values.
Trees need to be the first plant we consider saving during the drought.
A new way of irrigating trees has been developed by the University of California. As you see in the above picture you will circle the tree with a drip line or soaker hose to the edge of the canopy. You can purchase supplies from your local garden center or hardware store.
To get the deep watering needed for trees, you will need to run the drip line for several hours but only irrigate every 2-4 weeks. The water needs to penetrate the soil 2-3 feet deep. You can calculate exactly how much water to use by going to our website.
To learn more about tree watering go to our website.
http://cecolusa.ucanr.edu/Master_Gardeners/
