Trees need plenty of water during the heat.
Once again, it's another hot and dry summer. With this heat, problems can arise within our gardens. We usually remember our lawns, vegetable patches, strawberries, and anything else that we care for. However, one thing often overlooked is our trees. Out of all our landscape plants, trees are probably the most valuable and expensive to replace. Drought stress over several years can lead to sudden tree loss. Careful considerations need to be made for our trees.
When it comes to our trees, we can't think about them the same way as lawns or veggies. Trees need watering that is deep, long, and over time. Light surface watering won't cut it, that includes a bucket of water at the base. The tree's feeder roots are in the soil where the canopy of the tree ends. It is best to ensure this area gets at least 10 inches of saturation. A good rule of thumb to achieve this is to water 10 gallons per week, for large mature trees. This will create more drought-tolerant trees. Of course, I recommend doing a little research to see how much your tree needs, since every tree is different.
Some other things to remember:
• Watering in the morning or evening is best.
• It's not recommended to fertilize during hot summer days
• Drought-stressed trees attract beetles & pests
• It's best to plant new trees in the spring or fall
• Newer trees will require more water for the first few years
If you want more information, contact me at 541-256-0850 or skyler.palmer@oregonstate.edu and I would love to chat with you! Also, there are great resources available on the OSU Extension website.
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