The third situation is for newly planted trees. I generally think of these trees as being in
place for less than four years. The problem here is that newly planted trees don't have an
established root system. It takes years for that to happen. The growing medium that they
come in will not hold water. What generally happens is the ball of the tree dries out mid
June and the tree becomes stressed out and dies. This happens often even with your
sprinkler systems running! They may get water in the mourning and the root ball is dried
out by 1.00 o'clock PM. What is the solution. Water these newly planted trees a second
time during the heat of the day. Generally four of 5 gallons will do .
Most people work and can't be there to water a second time. For those people I recommend
a secondary drip system. It is inexpensive to install and can water 20 or 30 trees easily. If
you can't install the system. Call us a Tree Tops Pest Control. Tree Tops does install simple
drip systems.
If you let your trees get stressed from lack of water it may be necessary to have one of
our tree doctors to help the tree. Keeping a tree from becoming stressed is easy. Getting
a tree out of stress may require special treatments to boost the tree out of a distressed
state. The sooner the better.
Tree Tops Pest Control
281-704-5627
How to water your Trees
by Philip Hughes
Precious water gives life to our enviroment.
" Every year people call me with severly stressed trees. Most of the time the stress is
caused from lack of water. One would think that this would not be much of a problem, but
perspective customers call us all the time."
There are three types of watering situations that most people experience in the Houston
area. Mature well established trees. Mature well established trees in time of drought, Newly
planted trees. Each situation requires different watering techniques.
Mature well established trees generally don't need water as long as regular rainfall remains
consistant. Large trees often need 200 gallons or more of water a day. If you have four or
five trees on your yard, you may be looking at 1,000 gallons of water daily to keep mature
trees doing well. Most people are amazed at how much water their trees need. Many
ask "How do the trees get that much water?" . The trees have a huge root system often
extending 100 or more feet from the tree. All of those roots help absorb moisture from
many feet deep. Trees are notorious for tapping city sewer systems to get more moisture.
The second situation is watering mature trees during time of drought. Here is where
people often start making mistakes. The first mistake is in thinking the trees don't need
any extra water. I get calls almost every year during the months of June , July and August.
Often a very large oak is starting to brown out at the top of the crown. When I do a coring
of the soil, the soil often has the consistensy of hard cement. No moisture is found over
12" inches down. This is a disaster for the tree.
Many people do try to get some water down for the trees often chosing the least efficient
methods possible. The first method is the sprinkler system. The sprinkler system is not
designed to water trees. The sprinkler system is designed to water grass and smaller
ornamental plants. If one chooses to use a sprinkler system and run it for hours they
generally end up with fungus in their yards.
The second method of choice is a water hose. The will put it on trickle or better yet on full
force and watch the water run down the street. Either method is not very efficient . What
a customer really recieves is a bigger water bill and a lot of water lost through evaporation.
The method that I recommend is to use a Ross Root Feeder. Checker board your
entire yard into four foot squares. Take the feeder and put it on a slow drip. Push the
tip into the ground about 12" and leave it there for four or five hours. Move the tip from
section to section until the whole yard has been done. Do this at least once a month during
time of drought to help relieve the stress on the trees.
Tree Tops Pest Control has brought trees back with almost no leaves on them.
Timely prompt attention is a must. Call us before your trees become that stressed!
281-704-5627
