How much water do transplanted pines need?

[David250]

I am confused about how much to water some newly transplanted white pines. I live in upstate NY and just bought some 10' trees from a good nursery. They planted them well in moderately sandy soil on a slope. The nursery says to water them 3 times a week, giving them 25-30 gallons each watering. But a local arborist says this is too much water -- he would only water once a week, at most. The nursery says white pines need lots of water, but the arborist says you can drown them. The nursery says the sandy soil and slope would take care of any excess water. Any suggestions? I would appreciate any advice you can offer.

 

[PB]

I am confused about how much to water some newly transplanted white pines. I live in upstate NY and just bought some 10' trees from a good nursery. They planted them well in moderately sandy soil on a slope. The nursery says to water them 3 times a week, giving them 25-30 gallons each watering. But a local arborist says this is too much water -- he would only water once a week, at most. The nursery says white pines need lots of water, but the arborist says you can drown them. The nursery says the sandy soil and slope would take care of any excess water. Any suggestions? I would appreciate any advice you can offer.

That does seem like a lot of water for a tree. I usually take two or three 5 gallon buckets, with nail holes in the bottom for the water to drain out, and place them evenly around the tree. If you do this 3 times a week, you should be fine, but I don't usually do this until July or August when it is really hot and dry. White pine will tolerate wet soil, especially if it is sandy, but 25-30 gallons seems excessive. Are you sure they didn't mean 25-30 gallons for all 10 trees?

 

[David250]

The nursery said 25-30 per tree.

I am also using 5-gallon buckets with holes but am hoping to install an drip emitter system to make the watering easier for the next couple of years.

 

[PB]

The nursery said 25-30 per tree.

I am also using 5-gallon buckets with holes but am hoping to install an drip emitter system to make the watering easier for the next couple of years.

If the nursery is warrantying the trees, I would go with what they say. That way they have no excuse not to replace the trees if something goes wrong. Good luck.

 

[David250]

Thanks again for your help.

This nursery does have a 1-year guarantee...but I don't want to lose a whole year if I overwater or underwater. As I understand it, unlike a maple or oak, pines don't show a watering problem until they're dead....

By the way, I have 22 ten foot tall trees, not ten trees. They are planted as a screen to create some privacy between me and a brand-new house next door. So, losing a year to dead trees would be a problem, not to mention a huge waste.

 

[Lawnmowerboy48]

It would be a waste but you would not notice much of a difference if you lost one and got a new one last year. With sandy soils its water less, water frequently. The water will percolate through the sandy soil very quickly compared to other soils. My guess is though that the rootball is going to contain a lot of clay in it which then would require lots of water at a slow rate and that would be done less frequently. The five gallon buckets are definitely a good idea. I would listen to the nursery though, they are the ones giving you the warranty.

Tyler

 

[zayder06]

coudnt the warranty be voided with overwatering?

 

[David250]

No. This nursery has already made good on an oak that did not survive the transplanting. The didn't quibble about the care of the tree, perhaps because the other two right nearby both survived.

 

[capetrees]

I don't know what type of soil throughout the area but where I am, sandy soils will help in the overwatering dept.. The ball will absorb what it needs and the rest disipates. New plantings need lots of water in that they essentially have no roots to absorb from a vast area, just what's in the rootball so you need to bring the water to them. After a while though, 5-6 weeks, ween them off the regular soaking and allow them to start looking for water on their own. Thats when you back off to every other day. Where I am, its nothing BUT sand and some of the guys around here actually fill the holes with mud soup and then set the ball in that, tying off the tree and letting the soils settle out of the mud over time. This saturates the surrounding soils, eliminates any air pockets to avoid root rot and allows the ball to get a much needed soaking. Works down here.

 

[M.D. Vaden]

I don't think it's as much a matter of how many gallons, as it is to keep the root ball moist.

Initially, the roots cannot draw water from outside the ball, because the roots are not there yet. So the ball is the most important, and the fill soil secondary. But the fill is still important because it needs some moisture for the roots to grow in.

My tips are on this page:

http://www.mdvaden.com/watering.shtml

That page became an entire discussion one time when someone introduced it as a topic:

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=36105

Feel free to review that previous chat.

As for your pines, the total water recommended per each watering, sounds more like what I'd be applying every week or two.

 

[David250]

Many thanks for sending the link to your article and to the discussion that followed on this forum. This is extremely helpful. Because of the number of trees involved, I will use your dowel method of checking moisture PLUS a good quality soil moisture meter I found at Professional Equipment ($80). As you say, the soil in these root balls can vary tremendously, so better to know how each tree is doing than to try to guess. Again, thanks for this very useful post.