Tree owners have been coming into the office and asking, “what is wrong with my tree?” Well, we are starting to see symptoms such as whiteflies and their honeydew early this year. In a normal year we see this in October.
When trees are stressed, insects invade. Most trees right now are very stressed! Please water your trees.
If you have sap, i.e. honeydew dripping from the leaves, you can wash it off with a sturdy stream of water from the hose. If you have sap dripping from the trunk or branches you have a different problem and may lose the trees.
Courtesy photo
Trees are our most important garden asset. They provide shade, clean the air, provide habitat for wildlife, they are beautiful and increase your property value. Many of our trees are in lawns and many people have reduced or eliminated watering their lawns. This means many trees will slowly decline and die. Mature trees need deep watering during the dry months in order to stay healthy. A large shade tree takes many years to establish.
A new way of irrigating trees has been developed by the University of California. As you see in the photo you will circle the tree with a drip line or soaker hose beneath the canopy but not at the trunk. Keep each circle 1 foot apart. You can purchase supplies at your local garden center or hardware store.
To get the deep watering needed for trees, you will need to run drip line for several hours but only irrigate every 2-4 weeks. The water needs to penetrate the soil about 2-3 feet deep.