In nature,
trees start from seeds or roots and are established
from the very beginning. Transplanting is not natural,
so
these trees need special care until the
root system re-establishes in the new location. Proper watering is
the key, so understanding watering quantity and frequency
is important.
How often? Generally speaking, trees should
be watered
once per week from early Spring until the leaves
drop off in the Fall. Be mindful of daily temperatures
and natural rainfall, as they are important factors that
may force an increase or decrease to frequency. If you
want to be more scientific, periodically check moisture
content by pushing a screwdriver into the soil. If no
moisture is detectable, extra applications are
required.
Never water if the soil is already soaked, trees can be
over-watered.
How much? Small trees will
have a root well of about 5 to 6 cubic feet. Typical soil
will soak up about one gallon of water per cubic foot,
meaning the tree should be given around 5 or 6 gallons
per application. It's not necessary to exceed 10
gallons on trees of this size, but be sure that you are
efficiently applying 5 gallons. As the tree gets larger,
consider applying about 5 gallons in three locations
around the drip line. This gives the roots more
incentive to continue growing outward. Insufficient surface watering may cause
root development to concentrate near the
surface. Roots should be promoted to depths of 3 to 18
inches for drought hardiness and anchor strength.
Application techniques are important to understand
because they vary in efficiency and depth, but also in
ease and speed. Why is speed important? Because a
fast and easy method will be easier to stick to on a
weekly basis.
Watering methods include open hose, soaker hose, drip
irrigation, and root feeders. One of the best methods, the
self-contained root
feeder, insures a deep soaking with a measured quantity
of water without taking a lot of time.
Because of its hose-free design, the Tree I.V. method
only requires about one minute for a small tree and a
few more for larger ones with drip line locations. |
