Water you thinking about how much to water trees in Abilene?

The other day, I was discussing watering a fairly newly planted tree with a customer (over the phone), and after I said how often and how much I recommended watering.

The comment was made back to me that everybody that this person had asked had told them something different about how much and how often to water. It may be that the person was expecting me to tell them that all the other advisers were all wet; however, that's not how that conversation went.

How much to water trees, or at least newly planted ones, is about as difficult a question to answer exactly.

To start, each species of tree is going to have a little - or a lot, depending on the species - different water requirements. A Chinese pistache or live oak tree is going to need less water than say a willow or maple tree. Be that as it may, even a willow tree, which is about the highest water requirement tree we can grow here, can be drowned with overwatering.

Granted, in the case of a willow, you would kind of have to work at it, but it could be done easily enough. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of oak trees killed by excessive water. In fact, and this doesn't really apply to today's subject, I have seen large, long established, red oaks killed this way. It's a little surprising when it happens, as you wouldn't think a tree with a trunk diameter of more than a foot can be watered to death, but it does happen.

 Getting back to smaller, newer trees, and how much to water them, the first consideration is what kind of tree it is. Next, what is the ground like where it's planted? If it's in one of the areas of the Big Country that has a lot of clay (my yard is 100% clay), putting a tree in that ground is essentially creating a clay bowl, and dropping a new tree in it. Clay bowls hold water really well, and it can take a long time for such a bowl to drain. Of course, this means that frequent watering is going to result in a tree root ball that is sitting in water all the time.

Since trees like to be wet, but also like to dry out between wettings, this isn't good. Then again, if we're talking about one of the more sandy areas in our region, water will drain from the planting hole nearly as fast as it is put in. This means such trees have to be watered much more frequently than their clay planted cousins, simply because the water doesn't hang around that ever important root ball very long.

Of course, a lot of the Big Country is between those two extremes, so the watering rate needs to be adjusted accordingly. But, as far as how much to water, we aren't done yet.

Beyond what kind of tree it is, and what kind of soil it is in, there are a lot of other factors involved.

• How much sun does it get? Is it full sun, or partially shaded by a building or another tree.
• How exposed to the wind is it? Is it on the south side of the house and continually exposed to the prevailing wind? Or, is it somewhat sheltered from the wind by other trees or buildings.
• Is where it's planted exposed to a lot of reflected heat from concrete slabs or buildings?

In short, every planting site, especially in urban settings, is its own little micro-climate that is going to mean tailoring the amount of water to suit those particular conditions.

To sum up, there are a lot of factors involved in how much water to give a new tree. In fact, it's so complicated that arriving at the perfect answer is something that isn't going to happen.

In the end, what we all shoot for is getting the plant enough water to establish and thrive, without drowning. Of course ,this means that pretty much everybody that gets asked about how much water to apply is going to give a different answer.

Bruce Kreitler is a certified arborist in Abilene.