Transplant watering.

Mount Pleasant, MI(Zone 5b)

Hey all. I have just transplanted three pines and will be planting about 12 more trees later this month. (a few ash, some lilac bushes, willow or two)

I am not sure what the watering requirements are right now. I had always though about 5 gallons of water per week would work. But being this early in the season, what should I do?

Thanks in advance,

Nick

Illinois, IL(Zone 5b)

It varies with size, soil, mulching, and species. Here are some general guidelines --
1. Soak them heavily at planting to settle them in.
2. Then hold off watering for a while until the top inch or two of soil dries out.
3. Then, if it doesn't rain heavily, water the equivalent of one inch of rain every week once the plants leaf out and start transpiring -- i.e., place an inch of water over the entire root zone, held in by the levee you hopefully built around the outside of the planting hole when you planted it.
4. If they show stress in very hot or windy weather, hit them with an extra mid-week dose.
5. Cut back in fall as weather cools and plants stop growing, but soak the one more time before freeze-up.
6. Repeat 3-5 again next year if your trees are not well established by then or are 2-3 inches in diameter. Figure one year of such watering for every trunk-inch of size.
Guy S.

Mount Pleasant, MI(Zone 5b)

Thanks Guy!

This info should be really helpful.

Nick

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