Even our mature trees with deep roots are starting to show stress. If you can water them, please do. Here's how to decide which trees to water.
If trees are important for shading your house in the summer, or for protecting your house from cold winds in the winter, water those trees first.
If your trees are on a slope, figure out which way the slope faces. A north facing slope will have the least stress. East will be the second least stress. South and West facing slopes are about the same for stress. Trees in low areas, such as those between dunes, will be less stressed than those in high areas.
How to water:
Method 1
Spray water on the dry soil around the tree until it looks wet. Then let that water sink down for 30 - 60 seconds. This will create pathways for additional water to go down instead of running off. Water slowly and move the hose around if you don't have a sprinkler or soaker hose. Sprinklers loose lots of water to evaporation, but if that's what you have, use it!
Method 2
Put a 2" layer of ice in a circle inside the drip line. The drip line is the ground under the outermost branches of the tree. Start with your ice layer about 1 foot out from the trunk and circle the ground around the tree. Move out from there if you have a large tree. For very large trees, you can do a target pattern, putting ice down a foot from the trunk about a foot wide, then skip a foot, then put another circle of ice about a foot wide and so on.
Regarding lawns, they are easier and less expensive to replace than our large trees, and most grasses go dormant in these conditions. They may look dead, but they may also come back in the fall. Those places with lawns which are key to the appearance and enjoyment of the property should continue to be watered. An example would be the Veterans Memorial.
If you have questions, please post them here, as I am out watering and won't hear the phone!
Barb
Which trees to water?
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lindawearn
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