Tree maintenance during drought

[Zyclone]

Hi everyone,

I live in So Cal and as everyone knows, we have a drought going on with water restrictions. I am fairly new to taking care of trees / plants and while racking the dead leaves I thought it might be best to leave them in the base. This way they can create a shade over the dirt and keep the water from evaporating as fast. Or is it best to clean everything out? I thought about putting down mulch, but I don't want to attract termites.

What are your thoughts?

[tomc]

Mulch mulch mulch. You can rake it back about six inches away from the trunk. But lay it on four to six inches deep in the rest of that depression.

PS: Your tree needs about 25 gallons of water per week at a minimum.

[rainbowgardener]

When tom says "mulch," that does not necessarily mean wood chips although it could. Termites might be found under mulch, though not necessarily, but they never attack living trees. But you could use pine straw, grass clippings, straw, newspaper and cardboard, etc. Anything you lay down over the soil to hold the moisture in is mulch. But tom is right, some kind of mulch is essential for water conservation.

tom doesn't live in SoCal, so I wouldn't take the 25 gal a week too seriously. Tom, if that tree required that, it would have been dead a long time ago. Much of SoCal it NEVER rains all summer (and that is in good times, not in drought). Depending on where zyclone is, that tree is probably used to going long periods without water.

Watch it for signs of drought stress. If leaves are shrivelling, wilting, browning, dropping out of season, or if the branches at the top are starting to wilt, it needs water.

Wilted, browning leaves:


https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/ ... ss1921.jpg

note tip of tallest tree bending over:


https://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/images/ ... s-BERT.jpg

If it starts showing signs of stress, you will need to figure out how to get water to it. Most important is water to the roots. Push a piece of rebar or pointed stake down as far as you can at several sites around the tree a few feet away from the trunk and put water in the holes. Put the hose on drip and let it drip for a long time. With or without the holes, you want to apply water very slowly so it soaks in deeply. Don't water again until the soil is dry 6 - 8" down.

Is there household water you can capture? Put a bucket in the shower while you are waiting for the water to warm. Don't throw away the water you boil pasta or veggies in, or wash veggies with. Keep a pitcher handy; if there's ice left in your glass, don't dump it down the sink, save it. Etc. Water is a precious resource. Start watching for ways you can collect it!

Here's a flyer from Sacramento Tree Foundation about caring for trees in drought: https://www.sactree.com/assets/docs/Tree ... 4-2015.pdf

[HoneyBerry]

I am concerned about the trees as well so I've been doing some research. I have some arborvitaes that seem to be doing just fine despite drought conditions. Then I read that the damage from drought stress might show a couple of years later. So I added a couple of inches of beauty bark and have been watering them even though they look green and happy. (No water restrictions in my area yet but are forthcoming.) I am conserving water anyway. I have been watering plants with some of the not-so-dirty water, such as water from rinsing of veggies and fruit fo eating, sometimes I rinse the veggies and fruit outside next to some plants with the hose so that the water is getting used more wisely. There was a story on NPR the other day about how some of the farmers in California are not conserving but instead are planting more nuts trees to capitalize on the drought. I guess humans will be humans.

[Zyclone]

@rainbowgardener - Thanks for the great info! How do you go about punching holes deep in the ground? Not sure how you put thin, deep holes around the base of the tree without damaging the roots... digging with a shovel will be a bit much wont it? The dirt around here is hard clay (San Diego area). Can you reference a good video on YouTube or some pictures on this process?

@BirdLover - I heard that NPR story also... they are only in it for the money. To them the profit from pistachios is greater then the cost of water. But the government is focused on restricting civilian water use which is a very small percent of what the entire state uses.

[HoneyBerry]

I've been thinking about this. Some of my trees are showing signs of drought stress and the conditions here are less severe thsn California. I think that you should assume that the trees are stressed even if it is not visually evident. Temps over 90 degrees are stressful for trees, unless they are cactuses. What I'm doing for my trees is mulch plus a soaker hose. My old lilac tree has a bark fly disease this year and I'm sure it is because of drought stress. However, it has not shown any signs of stress otherwise. My lace leaf maple has some leaf scorch, but most of the leaves look just fine. I'm assuming that all of my trees and plants are stressed out this year, including my ever-so-hardy low maintenance arborvitaes. I don't want to wait until they show signs of drought and heat stress because by then it might be too late. For example, I read that drought stress on arborvitaes doesn't show until 2 years later.

[Zyclone]

I dumped 2 trashcans full of pine needles from around my yard. Left about 3-4 inches clear around the trunk. What do you think?

[HoneyBerry]

Looks like you did a nice job. I have never used pine needles before, but I read good things about it. It probably is all fine and dandy but it wouldn't hurt to see if it is good for that type of tree. I am putting beauty bark under my trees. I don't know what kind of trees the bark came from but it looks really nice.

I was looking at trees everywhere on my way to work this morning. I think I must have trees on my brain. It seems like most people aren't paying attention to their trees during this drought. I don't see sprinklers watering trees that are out by the road. I think that most people just take it for granted that trees find their own water. I won't be surprised if we see trees drying up and dead due to drought and heat stress. But your trees and my trees will be fine because we are watering them.

[HoneyBerry]

SACTREE.COM has some good info.
They say the mulch should be 4" away from the trunk. Looks like you have that.
They show a berm example that your trees might benefit from.

[HoneyBerry]

This site has some good info about watering trees and caring for drought stressed trees.

treetender.com

[HoneyBerry]

Zyclone:
This magazine article has a nice picture of a ring dhaped soaker hose under a tree. And you might like some of the other water saving ideas as well.


https://www.finegardening.com/make-every-drop-count

[HoneyBerry]

I like the noodlehead sprinkler. I'm going to have to get one of thise.

[HoneyBerry]

I like the noodlehead sprinkler. I'm going to have to get one of those.

Here's another idea from that magazine article:
Drill a 1/16-inch-diameter hole near the bottom of a 5-gallon plastic bucket and dab paint over the hole so you can see it with a quick glance. Fill the bucket with water, and place it with the hole facing the root zone of the tree or shrub, where it can deliver a slow, steady stream of water. You can easily mix water-soluble fertilizer in the water, thereby getting two jobs done at the same time.

Read more: https://www.finegardening.com/make-every ... z3icqf9DJG
Follow us: @finegardening on Twitter | FineGardeningMagazine on Facebook

[HoneyBerry]

Here's something I found about drip lines and watering treEs:


https://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1298/


I hope I'm not posting too much stuff. This is a subject that I am currently researching to save my trees during this icky drought.