Aug. 9, 2018. During a heat wave trees suffer, too. Landscape Architect Jurgen Hess recommends treating your trees as you would your friends and animals. While trees shade and cool us, they get thirsty, too.
Micro sprinklers keep water low reducing amount loss to evaporation and wind.
“Even though we all want to conserve water, please remember to give our trees and shrubs a little extra water during these hot summer days,” says Ann Frodel, City of Hood River Tree Committee. “I was at Maryhill State Park last week and this beautiful hundred year old tree split during the evening’s 40 mile per hour winds and came within two feet of hitting the picnic shelter. The ranger explained to me that the park’s irrigation system was out all last summer, so now the trees are showing the damage that was done internally to weaken and stress these huge magnificent shade trees.”
The best time to water is early morning before the heat sets in, but water especially when the leaves begin wilting. Set your sprinkler to water the whole area within the drip line of the tree. To ensure deep soil watering, leave the sprinkler on for one to two hours. You can check water saturation depth by easily inserting a long screwdriver into the soil near the base of tree.
Newly planted. It’s especially important to keep your newly planted trees watered in the heat because they are more susceptible to withering than mature trees. Check each day to ensure the soil is still moist.
Trees less than 3 years old should be the first priority. New trees need about 10-15 gallons of water per week. New plants should be regularly watered for three hot weather seasons, whether native trees or not. Because of their young shallow root, they are more susceptible to heat stress than mature trees.
Applying mulch, such as wood chips, is an excellent way to protect your trees. Mulch insulates the soil and keeps the ground temperature from rising too high. Lay a thick, 4-6 inch layer around your tree, beginning an inch away from the trunk. Ideally, this should extend to the edge of the canopy for maximum benefit.
Established Trees. Mature trees are much less likely to experience heat stress due to their more extensive root systems. It’s a good idea to give them a good soaking once a month.
Treat your trees as they are: your best hot-weather friends.
Columbia Insight Publisher Susan Hess loves trees.
Thank you, Susan. I appreciate your clear prose and Jurgen’s advice on watering. Just passed the watering advice on to Darvel, who planted a small Oregon white oak in his yard last April. Turns out he already read your article!
Thank you.