
They have wide-spreading root systems to get enough water to sustain the tree. While that is better than the root system under your perennials, the tree roots need to supply water to a very large organism. Most trees, even large mature ones, have the majority of their roots in the top 18 to 24 inches. Lots of people assume that trees have roots that go down several feet. Even mature trees can benefit from watering.
PLANTING TREE WATERING SEEDLINGS FULL
These bags are not meant to be full all the time. Some people want to fill the bag every day. Also, the water comes out and goes right into the root ball, exactly where we want it. Fill the bag and the water comes out slowly through the bottom of the bag.

Insert it so that the tip of the needle is only 4 to 6 inches deep. If you plunge that needle into the soil deeply, you are missing a lot of the root system. Even most big trees have their roots in the top 18-24 inches. The holes that deliver the water are at the lower end of the needle and often the needle gets inserted into the soil too deep. You just need to move them around from time to time to get good coverage of the root system. Root feeders, with their long needles are great because you can stick them in the soil and go do something else.If the soil is not moist 5 to 6 inches deep, you need to run it longer. Run the 10 hose for an hour and then dig a little hole. Soaker hoses deliver water very slowly and they may need to be run for an hour or two to really do the job. Often, they get run for about 15 minutes or so. Unfortunately, many people don’t run them long enough. Soaker hoses are great because they keep the leaves dry and deliver water right to the soil.
PLANTING TREE WATERING SEEDLINGS HOW TO
Know how to use the device you choose for watering.

There are a lot of good devices for watering, but if they are not used right, they don’t give us good results. Shallow watering leads to weak, shallow root systems.

When the soil is drying a bit, then be sure to water thoroughly so we are getting water to the whole root system. We check new plants daily to see if the soil is moist or dry so we can decide if we need to water or not.

Newly planted plants need to be checked every day, but generally don’t need to be watered every time they are checked. Containers may need to be watered every day. Here are some things that are done wrong on a regular basis and a way to do them right: When we do water, we need to do it right. Why? Because we are not used to spring being dry and we are not in the habit of thinking about watering until the heat of summer. We do need to consider watering our trees, shrubs and gardens? Some people are not watering at all. So, that brings us to the topic of watering. Also, we did have some rain, and it may have come at the right time and kept the plant wet enough to get fungal problems started. Some fungal diseases may still crop up because we tend to wet the leaves of our plants when we water them, and that can start a fungal infection. That does not mean we will see no fungal diseases, just less of them. By the time we did get some rain, the leaves of many plants were maturing and less susceptible to fungal infection. Fungi need water, and rainfall has not only been low, but very sporadic. Typically, Iowa springs are wet, but what happens when they are dry? What does this mean for our plants? It is likely that we will see less fungal disease this year.
