the_hugo•1mo agoProlific Poster

Tried a new deep root watering method on a stressed maple in my yard and the results were not what I expected.

3 comments

3 Comments

Oh man, I feel that. I had a weeping cherry that looked awful. I ended up using a regular soaker hose in a spiral around the drip line, left it on a slow trickle for a full day. The key was letting the water really soak down deep, not just wet the surface. It took a few weeks but the tree finally perked up.

mark_hernandez121mo ago

But that's a huge waste of water.

emma5225d ago

Wait, do you really think leaving water on for a full day is a good idea? I have to disagree with you there, @joseph_hart. A soaker hose running for eight to twelve hours can drown the roots and actually hurt the tree more than help it. I learned that the hard way with an old maple in my backyard. The soil needs to breathe, and too much water just sits there and rots the roots from the bottom up. Maybe your tree perked up because it was just under-watered before, but for most trees, a deep soak for two to three hours is plenty. Overdoing it like that is a sure way to get root rot, even if it worked once for you.