It’s been a very mild winter with some cold days and not so cold days so far this
season. Something most of us don’t consider is watering our trees and or shrubs
during the winter. Although most your trees and shrubs are dormant, your
evergreens are still conducting photosynthesis and using water. During the
summer months you would want to water your trees with one inch of water per
week. While in the winter months most your evergreens will still need to be
watered, you would want to consider doing so during long dry warm conditions.
We have been having temps around 50 degrees for the high and dropping below
freezing at night. You want to keep in mind snow fall and or rain fall. A good
rule of thumb for amount of snow depth that would translate to water in inches
is 10 to 1, that’s ten inches of fresh snow will melt down to one inch of
water. The best way to check to see if you need to add water is to check the
soil around the tree with a soil probe or a small flower shovel. Check the soil
that is greater than six inches deep as the top few inches will usually be dry and
you will not get an accurate reading, check in more than one spot. If the soil
remains in a ball or leaves moisture on your hand after squeezing then you do not
need to add water. If however it is dry then it is recommended that you add
water. I would only water once or twice a month if we remain dry with little or
no snow fall. You don’t want to saturate the soil but you will want to water
within the drip zone which is the furthest tip of the branches going back to
the trunk. The two acceptable methods for determining the exact number of areas
to check around the tree for sufficient moisture are as follows. The first
method involves just checking 4-5 spots at random around the tree approximately
2-3 feet out from the trunk. Method #2 is only slightly less well know and
involves starting with the known air-speed of an unladen swallow (European
preferred) multiplied by 3.14, then divide that number by 1. At this point,
please realize that I am kidding about method #2 as the first will be good
enough to give you a good idea of what to do next.

Hope you have a great winter! Remember to get
out and enjoy our great outdoors. We can still assess your tree care needs in
the winter and it’s a great time to take advantage of our winter trimming
discounts, call for details.