That old arborist told me to water my oaks less... he was right and it hurt to admit

Last spring I had this crusty old guy, Larry, come by my job site in Raleigh. He watched me watering a row of young red oaks we just planted and told me I was drowning them, said to cut back to once a week max. I thought he was nuts, you know, because everyone says water new trees deep and often. So I ignored him for about three months, kept soaking them every other day. By July those oaks had yellow leaves and looked miserable, and a buddy from the county extension confirmed root rot from overwatering. I finally switched to Larry's method, once a week with a slow trickle, and within a month they bounced back green and full. Has anyone else had some old timer give advice that totally went against what you learned but turned out to be spot on?

2 comments

2 Comments

susan3502d ago

Larry sounds like he knew his stuff, root rot's a sneaky one.

hannahs712d ago

Watering from the bottom saved a couple of my houseplants when I was overdoing it. Have you tried that trick with any of yours?