The City of Morden, Parks and Urban Forestry department would like to ask for the community’s assistance in watering boulevard trees. Due to low soil moisture conditions and above-average temperatures trees are at risk of becoming moisture stressed. Once stressed trees are more susceptible to insect and disease-related pests. The establishment of roots and growth rate is greatly affected by soil moisture.
Trees that are newly planted and up to 5 years old are the highest priority for watering during dry conditions. Watering should be carried out during the cooler parts of the day. The amount of water given should provide a deep soak into the soil (approximately 20L) at a frequency of once per week. Infrequent, deep soakings are better than frequent shallow watering.
You can also help retain soil moisture, moderate soil temperature, and reduce competition by installing organic mulch such as woodchips around your tree. You can remove the turf/sod surrounding the tree and replace it with woodchips ensuring that you keep the area immediately next to the stem free of woodchips. For newly planted trees a 4-6ft diameter area of woodchips is recommended at a 4-6inch depth.
We would like to thank all the residents who are watering and helping to maintain tree health care for our City’s trees.
