Sprayer How Should I Get Water To The Trees?

[TRR]

I use a modified 5 gallon bucket method. I get the 1/4" drip irrigation hose and stick it in a hole drilled in the side of the bucket about an 1" from the bottom. That way I can have multiple "wet spots" for each tree. (I usually use 2 with one on each side - depends on the soil)

 

[GGB]

The trees are Norway Spruce, River Birch, and a couple of Scotch Pines and one surviving White Pine which is not suited for our region. All are 4-5" caliper, really too big to have bought and hoped to survive our hot weather but I got too good a deal to pass up. I also bought 3 other White Pines, but they didn't make it through the early part of spring. Going forward, I'll probably stick with Cottowoods and Eastern Red Cedar which are native species. Not the prettiest trees, but are very tolerant.

My experience is that smaller trees will be just as large as bigger trees in 10 years. The example someone used was that if you take a 1" tree, a 2" tree, and a 4" tree and plant them at the same time, all will be about the same size after 10 years because takes the larger trees more time to get over the transplant shock. Might not happen if you move with a tree spade, but we used our skid loader with a rented 24" posthole digger.


Thanks for everyone's input-I'm leaning towards an electric trash pump at the small pond because I can just run a cord to the barn. This morning I used my neighbor's pump, and was surprised at how quickly it filled barrels. For the other location, I'll probably look into the gas powered pumps. I didn't realize that they were so reasonably priced.

 

[mojoinco]

Some additional ideas and comments:

• 
  It takes a lot of time to constantly water a bunch of trees.
  You can get 3~5 gallon buckets for free at your local grocery store bakery.
  There are commercially made solutions: Tree Drench Drip Irrigation bags for easy tree care.
  Or this (no mosquito concerns): Feed the Gator...
  Ooze Tube - Bluestone Garden
  SayeGrow.com - Tree I.V. Root Feeder

I like the idea of a large tank and hoses (try drip line supply line with drippers on them) that run and drip at each tree. We have had good luck with a similar issue. Try to lay it out so that the line will drain (or can be drained) when it starts to cool down. We water over the winter (Denver area) and it really makes a difference year to year (but you can't use the drip line then -- too hard to handle in the cold). sections of the recycled tire drip lines works well too. You will need to do this for at least 3 or so years to get the tap root established.

 

[mjncad]

I water with a 150 gallon plastic water container on a pallet on my tractor forks. I dismount at each tree and discharge about 10 gallons and move to next. I did this for 60 walnut trees. The taproot on these trees (now 10 years old) is so developed that watering is not necessary even in very dry conditions. Not sure that a hose and pump will realy save you that much labor. Ya still have to discharge the water manually at each tree.

Here is what I do for watering since I got sick of dragging 300'+ of garden hose around when the water department turns off the irrigation system for the winter. Filling the 130-gallon tank is slow given the pipe size and GPM of the house system; but it drains quick enough with the 1" valve and hose. If I had a lake or pond, I'd use my roller pump to fill the tank.

 

[bcp]

My overall problem with the hole in the bucket technique is that the water only falls in one small spot, the tree will grow its roots there and never be well rooted.

The bucket can be moved occasionally.

Bruce