While the rain storm we received last week was heavy, it was all too short. GM can’t remember when it rained before that. So what’s that mean? Our street trees are in trouble. We’re still losing trees from a similar drought from a couple years ago. Trees neglected now could soon die too.
GM has already bored you to tears about the ins-and-outs of caring for our street trees, but now its your turn to step up to help preserve our tree canopy. So please follow these guidelines:
- Water your street tree at least once a week (in this weather, do it twice if you can)
- Water the tree at least 20-25 gallons (if you have a gator bag, just fill it; if you don’t, just let a hose trickle on the roots for 30 minutes to an hour.
- This is mostly true for young trees, but it can’t hurt in dry weather like this to water mature trees as well
That’s it. With your help, our beautiful tree canopy will be preserved.
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Where does one get gator bags?
I’d start by emailing Betsy Emes at Trees for Georgetown, she’ll either get you one or tell you how to get one:
Betsyemes@aol.com
Do you know where we can get them off to the east of Columbia Heights? I just planted a tree and want to be sure it’s well watered and will grow fast. I’ve been watering 1-2 x per week with a soaker hose for 3-4 hours. Is that too much?
You might want to try the Urban Forestry Administration at:
http://ufa.ddot.dc.gov/ufa/site/default.asp
Also, try Casey Trees:
http://www.caseytrees.org/
I think that may be a bit too much water. You only need to let a hose drip for about a half hour.