An often overlooked and misunderstood maintenance procedure is irrigating shrubs and trees. This is actually a very important, regular thing that should be done. However, there is a varying frequency that is based on things like how much water each shrub and tree requires. Maintaining a regular watering routine is not always possible when things like excessive rain or a drought happens. Our team here at Five Star Tree Services is going to go over some tips on shrub and tree irrigation to maintain healthy plants.
Make Adjustments as Needed
Overwatering problems can usually start with sprinkler systems that have settings set and are not adjusted based on the weather. This makes it important to not leave your system unchecked and to be monitoring it on a frequent basis. Seasonal weather conditions need to be taken into account and planned for accordingly. A simple strategy to make sure you aren’t overwatering is to go out and check the soil moisture with your fingers. Sometimes it can be deceptive because it will look dry on the surface, but if you go down a couple inches, it will be nice and moist.
Overwatering Issues
Root rot is a direct result from consistent overwatering. If the soil is always wet, it might not be compact enough to hold your plants upright and will lead them to lean from the disruption in root anchorage.
Underwatering Issues
If plants are left without water for too long, this means that your plant is not getting adequate nutrients and water they need to survive. When a drought happens, if you have a mature and well-established tree, using a regular garden hose to water these trees would not be beneficial. They can handle this type of environmental stress and are well adapted. But for new plants, something like this could kill them. So, you will need to pay close attention to them in order to make sure their roots don’t dry out.
Girdling
Damage can happen to trees and shrubs when they end up encasing foreign materials and these are not removed in time. As an example, when you have a tree that has a root wrap on for too long, the roots can start girdling. This is when they are restricted from being able to grow naturally outward and end up tangled and intertwined with themselves and the trunk of the tree. This means that the roots are being constricted and when this happens, the water supply and nutrients are cut off.
In order to avoid this, immediately remove plastic wrap before planting. For burlap, make sure it is loose as well as make a few cuts in it to allow the roots to be exposed. After you have staked and guided your tree, remember to either loosen or completely remove the cable when it is no longer needed. Additionally, over the years of maturing, if there are things like chains securing picnic benches to the tree, make sure to loosen or remove them. You should also do this for things like swings chained to branches, clotheslines, and any other foreign object encompassing the tree. Damage to the tree can happen if these things are left wrapped around the tree.
How Five Star Tree Services Can Help
Our team at Five Star Tree Services can help you with many different tree related things. Give us a call today at (416) 990-3355 if you would like our Toronto Tree Care services!