citymanagerblog.org

"Water me or I will die."

The sudden shift in weather from persistently cool and excessively rainy to daytime temps in excess of 90 will be difficult for new trees and other plantings to manage.

• They still have relatively limited root systems for gathering water, yet flushed out excessive growth while precipitation was abundant.
• Under this extreme heat, they will use up soil moisture available in the root zone fairly quickly and may not be able to support all the new growth.

When temperatures are normal this time of year (rarely exceeding 86F), trees installed less than 5 years need a minimum of 1" of precipitation / week.

When temps exceed 86F, the need goes up.

This local weather station provides information about daily, weekly and monthly rainfall in Springfield Township, at a site just off Fleming Rd.  While it's not quite as accurate as having a rain gauge in your own yard, it's considerably more reflective of local precipitation than what's reported on the news each evening.

In any week of summer (vs. spring) when precipitation fails to hit that 1" mark, provide 5 gallons of water to your tree for every inch of trunk diameter PLUS and extra 5 gallons for good measure.

So, when daytime highs are under 86F, a 3" diameter tree (at chest height) will need:

• (3 x 5 gallons) + 5 gallons = 20 gallons

When highs exceed 86F for more that a couple days in the week, and rainfall is under 1.5" for the week, you'll need to provide 1.5 - 2x the measured amount in the illustration above to keep up w/ water needs and counteract heat stress.  For young trees, direct most of the watering towards the base of the tree near the original root ball.

More detailed information about watering will be posted at the Public Works tree care site by this coming weekend.  Look for a page where we will provide info each Friday afternoon regarding how much water you need to provide your trees over the weekend.

Questions?  E-mail mlippert@wyoming.oh.us