How to Keep a Tree Watered
- 1). Use a soaker hose, irrigation system or garden hose turned on low to water your trees. This allows for the deep, but infrequent, watering which is best for trees. Sprinkler systems are inefficient because much of the water evaporates or is blown away.
- 2). Water your lawn and trees separately, as they require different amounts of water delivered in different ways. Trees need the soil around them to be moist to a depth of 2 to 3 feet, requiring a deep watering, but too frequent waterings can drown the tree's roots.
- 3). Check the moisture of your soil using a spade to dig to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. The first 12 to 18 inches of soil contain the tree's feeder roots, the parts of the root that absorb water for the tree. That soil must be evenly moist but never soggy.
- 4). Keep the water in the root zone. Watering the trunk of a tree does no good because the roots spread out away from the trunk and too much water at the trunk may lead to damaging rot and fungus.
- 5). Place a layer of 3 to 4 inches of mulch beneath the tree to help conserve water and regulate root temperature, but keep it at least 6 inches from the tree's trunk. Mulch touching the trunk also may lead to rot. Inorganic mulches don't absorb the water and allow more of it to reach the tree, but may also raise the temperature around the tree's roots.
- 6). Give new trees---those that have been planted for less than three years---extra water when they need it.
- 7). Build up soil in a ring around the tree, beneath the drip line, creating a barrier to help keep the water in the soil around the tree.
Source...