Last year was the hottest driest summer on record and we were out watering trees from the middle of April to the end of September. This year, although we started a month later, we still went out almost every week and we finished at the end of September. But our whole experience in 2023 was quite different.
The trees we plant have been grown in a nursery in conditions which inevitably restrict the growth of the root ball, so that the trees can be conveniently handled. Once one of these trees is in the ground, it can spread its roots but it is a couple of years before the roots are sufficiently extended to provide the tree with all the water it needs during the growing season. So we water our trees for two years after we have planted them. Beyond this limit we will continue watering a tree if it seems to be under stress. In the drought of 2022 we were due to water some 140 trees and on several occasions found ourselves watering nearly 200.
To make sure that, when we water, the benefit reaches the whole root ball, we plant each tree with a watering pipe wrapped round the ball, the end projecting above the ground. The pipe is full of perforations so that water poured down the pipe reaches every part of the root ball. We give each tree two 10 litre (just over 2 gallons) watering cans full, one down the watering pipe and one over the surrounding earth to reach the roots closer to the surface. If a tree looks to be stressed we will give it additional water.
What was different this year was of course the rain. It may have been unwelcome to those holidaying at home but it made our job very much easier. The rain came at various intervals and in varying quantities. There were periods of brief drought when we had to water additional trees and at the other extreme at least one occasion when there was enough rain to justify us in missing a week. We took each situation as it came. Some weeks we decided that there had been enough rain to do the job of the canful over the surface and we went and gave every tree just one canful down the watering pipe. Other weeks we thought that there had been enough rain for the two year old trees but we should give the first year trees a can down the pipe. Some weeks we decided that every tree needed the full two cans worth. We rarely had two weeks the same!
In addition to our own trees, as we had fewer to water this year, we accepted a request from Braintree District Council (BDC) to water15 trees which they had planted in Windsor Close. These trees had been provided with watering bags and, as agreed with BDC, we put two cans in each bag, whether it had rained or not. These bags are becoming quite common but we are not convinced that they are as effective as our own method in getting water to the whole root ball. So we shall not be adopting this device ourselves.
All in all it was an interesting and varied watering season and we are hopeful that all the trees will survive. The only one causing concern is the red maple in Forest Road which we planted to replace one that died in the drought last year. This tree is not thriving and we suspect that it is due to the poor quality of the earth (heavy clay) in which it is planted. We shall see how well it comes back next spring.
What the watering season will be like next year we cannot predict but the last two seasons have shown us that we can cope with whatever the weather throws at us.
Richard Hawkes
October 2023
