On a recent, muggy afternoon, Charlotte city arborist Laurie Reid filled a five-gallon bucket with water and held it up. Water streamed out from the three small holes she drilled near the bottom of the bucket.
“It's coming out nice and slow, and that's going to be able to soak that ground,” Reid said.
Mandatory water restrictions are still in place, with the city restricting when and how residents water their lawns and other greenery.
The drought has stressed the city’s trees, leaving them more susceptible to insect infestation and disease. On top of that, the weeks-long heat wave is straining their ability to cool down. Similar to how humans sweat, trees release water onto their leaves for evaporation, cooling them through a process called evapotranspiration.
“They're stressed, and then they're not able to release a lot of that water that would also be cool,” Reid said.
Reid said one of the best ways to help our leafy neighbors survive the heat is by watering them. But while sprinklers are banned, hand watering is still allowed. That includes filling a bucket with water and letting it slowly seep into the surrounding ground.
“You are giving a set amount of water. You're not standing with a hose for a period of time and potentially using more than you need,” Reid said.
With climate change making heat waves more frequent and intense, more people are likely to become familiar with such tips in the years to come. Another option is to mulch. But beware. There is a right and a wrong way to keep your tree’s roots cool.
“You don't ever want it touching the trunk of the tree because it can hold moisture and allow insects and diseases to impact your tree,” Reid said.
Reid says to avoid “volcano mulching” — big piles of mulch that encircle the base of the tree, starving it of oxygen. Avoid this by spreading mulch to a depth of 3 inches without touching the trunk. The wider, the better.
Check out more tree care tips here.
