Arborist Tips: The Importance of Water
Learn from our ISA-Certified Arborists about how to care for your trees!
Water is essential to all functions of a tree.
Properly watering your tree is vital to its success.
When watered well, a tree or shrub is able to absorb nutrients throughout its tissues via transpiration. This process also cools the leaves and delivers the required water for photosynthesis to take place within the foliage.
Water is also crucial to fighting pests and diseases (especially the Bronze Birch Borer attacking birch trees), and the stressors affiliated. We provide a tree healthcare program to do all of this as well, but the success of our program still depends on strong watering practices.
Additionally, adequate soil moisture is required for beneficial microbes to process organic compounds into available-nutrients for trees. Proper watering supports the soil microbiome -- this is where tree health begins!
Read on for practical tips about water your trees properly:
- Identify the drip zone of the tree canopy (imagine a vertical line from the edge of the tree canopy to the soil).
- Target the drop zone and beyond (most absorbing roots are concentrated here).
- Avoid watering against tree trucks and on the foliage -- that increases the risk of rot and foliar diseases for your trees.
- Utilize timers and/or soaker hoses, which facilitates adequate percolation and limits runoff.
- Water slowly and deeply -- percolation should reach 12-20" of soil depth for most trees.
- Determine duration/frequency of watering -- we can help with that, just reach out to set up a complimentary consultation.
- Add organic matter such as arbor-chip broadly to root zones, which aids moisture retention and further supports your soil microbiome.
Your tree & shrub health begins & ends with great cultural practices such as watering. Hopefully this guide provides some helpful tips.
Beyond this, the ISA-Certified Arborists at Blooma Tree Experts can help you with every other step of the process, from tree pruning to tree healthcare. Reach out today if we can help you out!