Michigan DNR

If you planted trees this spring or summer, it may be time to provide them with a drink of water.

Even though we’re thinking about cooler weather ahead, your newer trees are still growing and may be thirsty during much of the state’s recent warm and dry conditions. Here are a few tips for watering:

  • Check soil moisture first. If you can poke a long-handled screwdriver into the soil about 10 inches down and the end comes out dry, it’s time to water.
  • Water slowly and deeply. You can fill a tree-watering bag, use a hose on a slow trickle, turn on a sprinkler or use one or two 5-gallon buckets of water to deliver water to the root area under the tree canopy.
  • The goal is to provide the equivalent of about 1 inch of normal rainfall per week.
  • Provide a layer of organic mulch about 3 to 4 inches deep over the root area to help maintain soil moisture. Keep the mulch away from the trunk of the tree. An easy-to-remember guide for mulch: doughnuts are good, volcanoes are bad! “Volcanoes” – when mulch is mounded high and touches the tree bark – can do more harm than good.

Check out the MSU Extension do’s and don’ts of irrigating landscape plants and watch for more tips later this fall on preparing your landscape trees for winter and a great start next spring.