Trees keep your home and neighborhood cooler, saving air conditioning costs and offering cool places to sit and socialize on hot days. Trees reduce water needs of the landscape growing in their shade. Trees offer many other benefits, and yet the cost of watering a mature tree is less than $20 each year. Watch this short video to see what happens if you cut down all of a city’s trees, .
Trees take a long time to grow. If we don’t water our trees in the drought, we risk losing their benefits. While the drought may not last long, it can seriously damage or kill trees, and these benefits will take 10, 20, or even 50+ years to get back. Taking care of your trees during the drought ensures that we preserve and protect these life-giving benefits for ourselves, our families, our homes, and our communities.
Dead or dying trees can be safety risks, posing safety risks to property and losing all their great health, home, economic, and environmental benefits. Removing a dead tree requires professional help, which can cost $1000 or more. Other plants also die without water, but grass can grow back in just a few weeks and takes decades for a tree to grow to full size. Best ever questions and answers
Drought stress affects the long-term health and vigor of trees, making them susceptible to diseases and pests. Your tree may look fine this summer but die next summer if not watered now. In the drought of 2015-2016, some property owners stopped watering their lawns, and some businesses and government agencies turned off irrigation systems, so they got credit for “gallons saved” but killed trees in public places.
Even the strictest drought restrictions allow for watering trees on residential and commercial properties, and landscape vegetation in parks, schools, and other public places. Trees are to be watered using a bucket, hand-held hose with a positive shut-off nozzle, or low-volume non-spray irrigation.
You can help take care of neighborhood trees the same way as you take care of your own! Get a group together and teach others proper watering techniques, then assign a rotation and let everyone take part in keeping all the trees healthy.
Best ever flyer. Tree water tips and resources from San Diego’s tree professionals, at https://sdrufc.com/treewatering.