I know we are all sensitive about Austin's water supply so we don't want to water our trees unless we make it count! Here is some important information about watering your trees, provided by the Houston Chronicle. That's right, even damp and humid is Houston is lacking rain this year:
A watering schedule that maintains a lawn in a drought won't adequately maintain trees, foresters say.
Water slowly and deeply to avoid runoff and evaporation. How much depends on the tree:
Give a small, 1-year-old tree 28 gallons of water a week, a 2-year-old tree 56 gallons a week, and a 3-year-old about 112 gallons a week.
For larger trees, it's easier to use the general formula of 10 gallons per inch of trunk diameter (measured at knee height) each week during drought.
"Older, established trees have more extensive root systems, but still might not find enough water in the soil during a drought to stay in good health," said Mickey Merritt of the Texas Forest Service.
The key, he said, is a long, slow soaking, so water can penetrate deeply into the root zone. Options include:
• Turn the hose on at a trickle, and let water soak into the ground under the drip line or canopy until that area is saturated about 18 inches deep. After about two hours, move the hose to another area and repeat.
• Coil a soaker hose around the tree, as near the drip line as possible. Let it run several hours to slowly soak the soil.
• Poke three small holes in the bottom of 5-gallon buckets and place them beneath trees, then fill the buckets so the water slowly seeps into the soil.
• Purchase slow-release systems such as Ooze Tube and Treegator, which Merritt said are beneficial in watering young trees.
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