Summertime is the season where watering your plants, trees and grass is very important! Since it means dealing with extreme heat and periods of drought that can cause issues for your trees. If you don't properly maintain your trees during the summer weather, it can result in having your trees dry out and die, so maintenance is a must! Knowing when and how to water your trees and how much water to give them is crucial to your trees’ survival and growth.
Use the Correct Equipment- Giving a tree too much or not enough water is a very easy mistake to make. Overhead sprinklers are easy to use, but a terrible method for watering trees since they lose so much water to evaporation. It is best to use methods that apply water slowly and don’t lose too much to evaporation. A garden hose is the easiest and most effective way to water your trees because it gives you the most control and allows the water to soak into the roots of each tree. Unlike with a sprinkler, the hose can be placed anywhere and is firmly within your control.
Cooler Temperatures- If you have the chance water your trees during the morning time, the ground and air are cooler around this time of day. This means that there is less chance of the water evaporating due to the warmth. Watering your trees in the morning is best because the water will make it through the roots instead of it evaporating during the day. If you are not able to water in the morning, wait until it gets cooler in the afternoon. That way it is not as hot as in the middle of the day.
Amount of water- It is vital that the right amount of water is used when maintaining trees. Too much water can more or less drown the root of a tree while under-watering it can dehydrate it and kill it. Trees that are given too much or too little water are also far more likely to be vulnerable to attacks by bugs and other pests. It is a delicate balance between too much and not enough water for a tree, but a general rule of thumb in the summer is to water a tree roughly three times as long as you would water your lawn.
Using mulch when watering your trees is smart and effective for tree development for many reasons:
(1) Mulch insulates the soil, which helps during the hot temperatures that you will be dealing with in the summer. (2) Mulch is great for keeping in water, which is important because it means the roots of the tree will be kept moist. (3) Mulch helps to keep out weeds and prevent root competition. (4) Mulch stops the process of soil compaction from taking place, which means the soil is more likely to stay moist and less likely to dry up.