How much water do my trees need?

Water: too much or too little? Trees need water. Seems obvious, but there are a lot of people who believe that since no one waters forest trees, their urban cousins don’t need any help either. But they don’t take into consideration the very different growing conditions of each.
Forest trees conserve resources much more efficiently than their urban counterparts. An organic layer of mulch holds moisture in the soil, natural wind breaks reduce evaporation, plus group shading and transpiration keep the overall forest temperatures cooler.
Urban trees often bake in the sun and have to compete with a thick layer of sod over their roots systems that absorb the reduced available moisture. Buildings, streets, lights, and other urban elements radiate heat, further adding to the depletion of water.
How much is enough? Too much is as harmful as too little. Over saturation of the soil can literally drown your trees by not allowing room for oxygen to penetrate into the soil pore space. A general rule of thumb is to do a deep-watering every 4-6 days during periods of drought for mature trees and every 2-3 days for smaller and newly planted trees. Less frequent, but deeper watering help train the tree to be drought resistant. The best time to water is in the morning. Click here for more information

What's killing native dogwoods?

Discula Anthracnose

There is a fungus that has been killing native dogwoods up and down the east coast. It started in the north east and has traveled down the mountain ranges and into the piedmont regions. Symptoms include lesions on the leaves and vertical water sprouts. Dead leaves may remain attached to the branch over the winter. Discula anthracnose is a leaf fungus that attacks the vascular system. The disease develops rapidly and may kill the tree. Treatment is only preventative; there is no cure once the fungus is present. The disease is responsible for killing countless native dogwoods throughout the eastern United States.

Borers

Borers do their damage by tunneling below the bark and disrupting the flow of vital nutrients, water and oxygen through the vascular system of trees. Borers attack oaks, maples, tulip trees, cherry trees, willows, and pines. Symptoms include staining along trunk or branches, fras (fine sawdust), sap on trunk, and dieback in canopy.
Borers are the larvae of beetles or moths. Females lay their eggs throughout the summer season in the bark. The larvae tunnel through bark, sapwood and heartwood as they feed. This disrupts the flow of nutrients and water through the vascular system. Dieback in the canopy soon results. Trees stressed by drought, poor growing conditions, mechanical damage, etc. are particularly susceptible to infestation. Borers often kill the tree.
Timing for treatment varies by species of borer. New advances have been developed that are not only more effective, but also reduce the number of treatments, reducing costs.