Winter Watering

Watering of trees, shrubs, lawns and perennials during prolonged dry fall and winter periods is essential to prevent root damage which affects the health of the entire plant.

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Colorado's dry air, low precipitation, little soil moisture, fluctuating temperatures, and the general characteristics of fall and winter, can be hard on trees and shrubs.

There often can be little or now snow cover to provide soil moisture, particularly from October through March.

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Trees, shrubs, perennials and lawns can be damaged if they do not receive supplemental water. The result of long, dry periods during fall and winter is injury or death to parts of plant root systems.

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Affected plants may appear perfectly normal and resume growth in the spring using stored food energy. But these plants maybe weakened and all but parts may die in late spring or summer when temperatures rise. Weakened plants also may be subject to insect and disease problems.

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Woody plants and trees with shallow root systems require supplemental watering during extended dry fall and winter periods. These include but are not limited to: European White and paper Birches; Norway, Silver, Red, Rocky Mountain, and Hybrid maples; Lindens, Alder, Hornbeams, Dogwood, Willows, and Mountain Ash.

Evergreen plants that benefit include spruce, fir, arborvitae, Yew, Oregon Grape-Holly, Boxwood, and Manhattan Euonymus.

Woody plants benefit from mulch to conserve soil moisture. established large trees have a root spread equal to or greater than the height of the tree. Watering should be done directly to the most critical part of the root zone.

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Newly established lawns, whether seed or sod, are especially susceptible to damage. Susceptibility increases for lawns with south or west exposures.

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Contact American Tree today for a free estimate and landscape evaluation.