Mushroom Monday: Chocolate Milky (Lactarius lignyotus)
July 8, 2024
Hurricane Preparedness: Tree Care Before The Storm
July 12, 2024
Helping Trees Through Drought
Although you might not be experiencing it now, droughts are something that inevitably come. No matter where in the country you live, at some point rainfall will be less than average for a prolonged period of time and there will be adverse effects. Although there will be some impact from drought that can’t be avoided, there are steps that can be taken to lessen the impact and help your trees to get through a drought successfully.
What is Drought?
Drought can seem like a simple idea – it isn’t raining and it hasn’t been for a long while. If you live in a place like Central Texas, you know what it means without looking it up. The concept of drought can be more complex though than what seems intuitive and there can actually be a variety of definitions of drought.
Although you might hear different mentions of drought from different places, and different definitions matter in terms of the actions people might take, a basic way to look at it is to think of drought as a lack of rainfall that has a negative impact on either plants, animals, or people and that persists for an extended period of time and over a large area. If it’s not raining, it hasn’t been for a while over a large area, and plants and other things are starting to feel the impact, you can think of it as a drought.
What is Stress?
Although we all know what stress means in terms of our personal lives, in this case we are looking at stress on trees. A stress on a tree basically means anything that causes the tree’s health to decline. Stress can come from many sources such as insects, pollution, competition from other plants, and chemicals. Stress can be something that occurs over a short period of time or something that persists. One important thing to keep in mind is that the effects of stress are cumulative for a tree. Stress adds up over time and can progressively lead to a decline in a tree’s health and even a tree’s death.
Drought can be something that causes stress for trees. A lack of sufficient water can have a number of negative impacts on a tree’s functions and health and if it persists over an extended period of time it can have a strong negative impact. Some impacts might be seen right away and others might not show for a year or more later.
Compounding Stress
Stress adds up over time, but also adds together. If a tree is experiencing drought stress, and then gets impacted by insects for example, these stressors can add together to cause further decline for the tree.
Additionally, one type of stress can leave a tree susceptible to others. For example, a tree that is experiencing stress from drought might be less able to defend itself against insects and pests and it can become more susceptible to them.
Periods of Drought
In past posts we looked at rainfall and precipitation in both Houston, Texas and in Austin, Texas.
In Houston, some years with reduced rainfall included 1988, 1999, and 2011. For Austin, some years with reduced precipitation included 1988, 2008, and 2011. Some of these years overlapped, and some didn’t. As we noted for Houston, sometimes drought can occur in cycles, such as every 10 or 11 years on average. In other situations it can be less cyclical.
We know droughts have happened and they are going to happen again. They can be common in places you might expect, such as Central Texas, and can also impact places that have higher average rainfall amounts such as Houston and the Gulf Coast.
Given the stress caused by drought and its expected occurrence, we thought we’d share five simple ideas that can help you to prepare for drought before it comes and help your trees to be better able to handle it once it does.
Idea One: Arborist Consultation
Having a qualified arborist who has obtained a level of certification, inspect your trees and provide you with information and guidance for their care can be an amazing thing. A skilled arborist can identify the trees you have, assess their condition and needs, and develop a plan for their care. They can point out things you may have never noticed, help you correct some things you might be doing, and help you to have a plan for the care of your trees.
During an arborist consultation, an arborist can also provide you with recommendations regarding preparing your trees for drought, how to care for your trees during drought, and how your trees may have been impacted by past droughts. This information can be invaluable once a drought arrives and can help you to take proper steps to lessen the impact of a drought on your trees.
Idea Two: Mulch
We love mulch. It can also be a magical thing. It almost has too many benefits to name.
Two important benefits of mulch that are important regarding drought, are mulch’s ability to help retain soil moisture and its ability to help regulate soil temperature. Both of these things can be a buffer against the negative impacts of drought. Besides its impact on a tree’s ability to resist drought conditions, mulch has other benefits that can help a tree in a variety of conditions.
When choosing mulch, consider getting organic, undyed mulch and take some time to check out the source. Mulch can vary by its ingredients, how it’s made, and its quality. A little research can go a long way.
When applying mulch, make sure to apply it properly by following some simple tips.
Idea Three: Proper Watering
Proper watering is very important for trees whether there are drought conditions or not. Applying sufficient water for a tree to be healthy without applying too much can be critical for the health of your trees. Not watering properly can often have a detrimental impact on the health of your trees and can be a stressor for them. For example, for a tree that has been recently planted, getting too much or too little water can be one of the main reasons it dies.
There is a lot to watering trees properly. It can vary based on the tree species, the weather, the overall climate, the microclimate, and more. Generally, trees benefit from deep but less frequent waterings (as opposed to shallow and frequent waterings) and should be watered based on conditions such as soil moisture, humidity, and temperature. During a consultation, a qualified arborist can help you develop a plan for how to water your trees.
One important step you can take to water your trees properly if you have automatic sprinkler systems, is to have them inspected and adjusted once per year. This can identify leaks, damaged sprinkler heads, poor spray patterns, and more. No one wants to waste water, and a yearly inspection can help reduce it.
When watering your trees, keep in mind any regulations or ordinances pertaining to watering. These can come from a variety of sources and can often be instituted during periods of drought. Be sure and follow and comply with any rules that pertain to your location.
Idea Four: Plant Health Care
All else being equal, a healthy tree can resist stress better than an unhealthy one. When a tree is healthy, its defensive mechanisms can function properly, photosynthesis can be working as it should, and the tree can have stored resources.
Caring for the health of a tree can be complex. It can be easy to go to a garden center and buy fertilizer or some other product without really understanding how it works or what your trees need. Without knowing what your trees need, it can be difficult to know how to care for them. Given the differences between trees in a landscape and those in a forest, it can be important to provide trees with the proper care.
There are some steps you can take to help your trees get the health care they need.
First, if you don’t understand what your trees need or what a product does, consider refraining from using that product. Sometimes it can be easy to do more harm than good.
Second, have a soil test. A soil test can help indicate the nutrients in your soil and their availability among other things. There are a number of places that can perform a soil test. One to consider is the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Soil.
A soil test can provide a lot of good information, but it can be helpful to have someone skilled and experienced interpret the results. A qualified arborist can help you to understand the results of your soil test and what they mean for your trees.
Third, have an arborist consultation. A qualified arborist who has obtained a level of certification can help you understand the health care needs of your trees and can develop a plan for their care. Whether your trees could benefit from a deep root feeding, a foliar spray, or need to be treated for a condition, an arborist can make a plan through a consultation.
Idea Five: Plant Native or Climate Resistant Trees
Of course, a drought is not a good time to plant a tree, but when the time and soil conditions are right, selecting the right tree can be a great step in having trees that can make it through a drought.
Native trees can be a good place to start. A tree that is native to your area, can tolerate the general conditions there and can, depending on conditions, be able to make it through periods of drought. Native trees can often do better than non-native ones that might not be able to deal with high heat and extended periods of reduced rainfall.
In addition to native trees, you might also consider non-native trees that are climate resistant. As climates in different areas change, sometimes a non-native tree can be better suited for a particular environment than a native one. This idea was touched on in our The Challenges of Austin’s Changing Climate guest blog post by Orion Stahlbaum and is one that we hope to explore in a future blog post.
We Can’t Do Everything
As you consider and implement the ideas above, one thing to keep in mind is that we can’t do everything. While steps can be taken to help trees better survive drought and to make it through with less harm, sometimes, despite the best of efforts, drought will cause damage and death to some trees. The best we can do is take steps to mitigate the risk of drought before it occurs and to take proper steps once it happens.
If you do have trees that die as the result of drought, or for other reasons, it is important to have them removed promptly and by a qualified professional. Dead trees can pose a risk of falling, can be attractive to pests, and can increase the ability of tree diseases to spread. Having them removed can reduce these issues.
Drought is a serious thing. Extended periods without rain that negatively impacts trees can cause stress on us as well as our trees. By taking some proactive steps you can do your part to help your trees make it through a drought and be in a better condition once it ends.
If you found learning about helping trees through drought useful, check out the other posts on our TrueTreeTalk blog. Also, follow us on Facebook to keep up with these and other posts.
* * *
ArborTrue is a science-based tree-service company in the greater Houston area. We also serve Austin and other parts of Central Texas. We provide a range of services including tree trimming, tree pruning, tree removal, tree planting, arborist consultations, and more. Call us today at 832-980-8733 (Houston) or at 512-546-3833 (Austin) or reach out to us online to schedule an appointment.
