How to water trees in dry weather...

[sixdogs]

Here is how I water seedlings in dry weather. Get a 5 gallon bucket and drill a SMALL --1/8th? hole in the bottom on one side. Mark the outside where the hole is.
Place bucket near tree and fill with water. It may take a while to drip out but all the water goes where it si supposed to and no runoff. We have had excellent results this way and have done it for years. Hope this helps.

 

[jinman]

We do that too. What do you use to fill the 5-gal buckets? Do you have a very long hose or do you haul water in something else? I guess you could gather up the buckets in a pickup truck and then fill and replace them. ...just curious about how you refill.

 

[sixdogs]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/120968-how-i-water-tree-seedlings.html





Here is my earlier thread with a photo of my setup. I use three 55 gallon plastic barrels in my front end loader and strap or chain them in. Use a good strap since they can fall out as you tip loader to empty. I put plastic drains in the bottom of the barrels and can haul 165 gallons this way. Some guys can haul only one barrel and some put them on a 3 pt. platform to haul.
The lights went on for me after I poured a five gallon bucket of water on a tree and none went much below the surface. The hole-in-the-bucket idea, however had the water soaking in deep. That meant less frequent watering for me which means less work and that got my attention.
We also mulch with grass clippings if we can and this further slows evaporation to the point where it is rare for us to lose even one tree. And I have planted hundreds.