You’ll know all about spring and summer care for trees. You may even be aware of the best things to do in the fall to protect the greenery in your garden. What about in the winter, though? How much do you need to do then?
Watering trees is still important this time of year. However, you don’t need to do it regularly. You want to time the watering with the temperatures and not with how much rain or snow has fallen. Here are the top tips for watering trees in the winter months.
Wait for the Temperatures to Be Above Freezing
You don’t want to water when the temperatures are below 40 degrees. This just opens the ground to frost and cold damage. Instead, you want to wait for the temperatures to rise regularly. Before then, the snow will create some moisture as it melts, but it also offers some protection from the freezing as there is insulation there.
Pay attention to when the snow has melted. When the temperatures are up, get out there and add a little extra water.
Water Slowly and in the Wider Area
You don’t want to add too much water at one time. It’s important to make sure the water gets right into the tree system, which means using a drip hose to let the water out. It will take some time to do this, so make sure you’re dressed for the occasion. For a young tree, it can take 40 minutes to make sure the tree has plenty of liquid.
You’ll also want to spread out the water. Tree roots spread a far distance. You don’t want to leave out any section as you don’t know how far they spread out under ground. So, you’ll need to water the entire area around the tree and spread out so you’re watering the area under the entire crown of the tree. The length of the tree branches is usually a sign of the length of the roots.
Add More Mulch
During the fall, you’ll have applied mulch around the tree base. This is something you’ll need to reapply in the winter months. The mulch is important for absorbing water to make sure the tree roots get the water needed and gain some extra insulation.
Apply the mulch so it sits about 2-3 feet away from the base of the trunk. You don’t want to apply it directly to the trunk as you need to make sure water still gets into the ground easily.
You’ll need to repeat all of this on a regular basis during the winter. Depending on the temperatures, you could need to do it every few weeks.
Contact SprayTech at (720)248-0000 to get an estimate on tree deep root watering.