WATERING GUIDE
Plants benefit from winter irrigation when temperatures rise above freezing. For typical Oklahoma winters, this could be a significant portion of the season. This is particularly true for broad-leaf evergreens and many deciduous species. When plants are properly mulched the need for winter irrigation is greatly reduced.
What you need to know about winter watering…
Under Watered Plants
If a plant starts to die from the top-down/outside-in with dry crunchy leaves, it’s not getting enough water. These plants usually look good at the bottom where the water supply only makes it up the tree so far. This is easier to fix if caught in the early stages than over watering.
Think You’ve Under Watered? We suggest the following guidelines:
* Add ferti-lome fish emulsion around the base of the tree
* Water in with a slow drip
* Treegators are recommended
Note: The increase in water encourages new energy to push out new growth. This observation works with most all plants although some such as the Sky Pencil Hollies aren’t as forgiving about running out of water and it’s harder for them to bounce back.
The signs for over watering are usually leaves turning yellow with moisture still in them from the lower portion of the plant, starting from the inside out. The tops are the last thing to look bad because they are getting plenty of water to the top of the tree. Planting a tree too deep will also have the same characteristics.
Over watering is a lot harder to fix than under watering!
Think You’ve Over watered? We suggest the following guidelines:
* Pull mulch away from base of tree/shrub to allow drying
* Next time you add water, add fish emulsion
* Water in with slow drip