Most of our area experienced a spring season which was a little on the moist side. Summer and early fall have turned the spigot off, resulting in a dry root zone for many trees and shrubs. But, how do you know if your tree(s) are part of the many or part of the moist? Ya gotta check.
Check for soil moisture by using a simple probing technique. Push a long screwdriver into the ground near the trunk, 4 feet away from the trunk, 10 feet away from the trunk and throughout the landscape. You can tell if the soil that provides water and nutrients for trees and shrubs is sufficient in 2 ways. First, notice how difficult it is to push the screwdriver in. If it takes a lot of force, it’s a clue that the soil is dry. If it slides in easily, it’s likely to be moist. Second, when you pull the screwdriver out, feel the blade. If it feels slightly wet to the touch, that’s a good thing as this moisture is available to the plant’s roots. If the feel is powdery or you don’t feel much in the way of moisture at all, it’s probably time to water.
So, the next question is how to water…the answer? Slowly and gradually. The tool of choice is a soaker hose, which is designed to do just that. Simply hook it up to the hose, wrap it around the tree in concentric circles 4-5 times and turn the hose volume to about a third of full pressure. Because they are slow water delivery devices, it takes about an hour to provide a good soaking. After an hour, probe the soil again, and if needed, move the hose to a new area and run another cycle of watering.
Other fall woody plant care tips:
Mulch – once the soil has been moistened, apply 2 inches of wood chip mulch over the roots, not piled up against the trunk. Mulch will reduce evaporation and keep moisture around tree roots, helping them to continue to grow healthy and strong.
Weed Management – Spot spray weeds in the lawn, using coarse droplets with the wand attachment only a few inches off the top of the foliage. This will limit spray drift to desirable plants, including trees and shrubs. Now is a good time to use a woody brush killer to control weedy trees such as mulberry and Siberian elm using a product containing triclopyr. Read and follow all label directions.
Leaving Leafings – Foliage that drops from trees in fall are like pennies from heaven. Allow a thin layer of leaves to accumulate under trees to moderate soil temperature and moisture over winter. Mow leaves in the lawn when they create thick layers in the 2-4 inch range, as the mower will pulverize them into fine mulch which is good for both trees and lawns.
Think Twice About Pruning – Generally, fall is not a great time to prune woody plants other than to clean up storm damage. Pruning in October could stimulate trees to produce new wood around wounds and to replace lost branches, which may not have time to fully harden off before winter. Heavy pruning for structure should take place in late winter or early spring to allow for trees to close the wounds created.
Plant Trees – No article about trees would be complete without an encouragement to plant some. Especially in spaces where trees have been lost, size up the room available and plant a replacement. When considering species, choose underrepresented ones such as pecan, hickory, baldcypress, chinkapin oak, hornbeam, Kentucky coffeetree, sawtooth oak and yellow buckeye. Not only does this increase diversity in the overall landscape, they are great conversation pieces when friends come to visit.
