Watering Trees Made Easy by Casey Trees

It's been thrilling to see so many new street trees planted in recent months (even if a few of our tulips were lost in the process...). It will be even more thrilling to know that these trees will thrive for generations of Shaw-ers to come. Ensuring trees will endure takes the dedication of neighbors to water and care for trees in tree boxes near their homes.

Trees, especially those that have been in the ground for less than 3 years, need 25 gallons of water - approximately equal to 1.5 inches of rainfall - per week to survive. From now through September, Casey Trees will issue weekly tree watering recommendations for DC residents. No more guessing when to water trees--Watering recommendations will be posted each Monday on the Casey Trees website and on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

If you pledge to practice 25 to Stay Alive by watering trees on and surrounding your property each week in times of little or no rainfall during the spring, summer and fall, Casey Trees will send you a complimentary rain gauge to help you monitor rainfall totals on your property so you know just when to water.

Also, Ooze Tubes are always available free of charge for pick up at Casey Trees's downtown location during normal business hours.

I'll take the pledge and look out for the new trees on my block. Will you for yours?

Watering Street Trees

Inspired by Bloomingdale (for now)'s recent posts on trees dying due to the generally dry conditions since June, I just ordered two tree gator slow-drip watering systems for the street tree in front of my house and for another young tree down the block. The gator bag delivers a high volume of water directly to the root system of a newly planted tree with no run-off or evaporation over a 9 hour period (of course, it needs to be re-filled regularly for ongoing effectiveness). Having been a frequent requester of street tree replacement through the city's online service request, I would hate to see these new trees die due to a lack of watering.