Got young trees? They need to be watered even when temperatures are cooling

by Marlene Berlin

We often remind you during the hot summer months that new trees need water – gallons of it. Young trees, whether they’ve been recently planted or have been in the ground for a couple of years, require 25 gallons of water every week to survive.

That is no less true in the cooler months, and is especially true now that DC is again on the brink of drought. October’s rainfall was 2 to 3 inches below normal, and year to date, precipitation is 10 to 15 inches below the average.

And, unless we get 1.5 inches of a soaking rain in a given week, the new trees need to be watered.

Munevver Ertem, an arborist with DDOT’s Urban Forestry division, told Forest Hills Connecton that the new trees need to be watered until the ground freezes. Don’t know if there are any new trees near your home? Visit treewatering.ddot.dc.gov and enter your street address. A tree map will pop up, and the light green dots mark the locations of new trees.

New trees (green dots) and existing trees (gray dots) around Forest Hills Park. (Screenshot of DDOT Urban Forestry’s interactive tree map)

Click one of the dots, and you see some information about the tree, and a “Water Tree Now” alert lights up in red at the bottom of the browser.

When Urban Forestry plants a new street tree, it’s equipped with a green watering bag. If you are able, run your hose to the bag around the tree and fill it up. And if you have new trees in your yard, you can buy the watering bags. Tenleytown Ace Hardware has them in stock.

Even if you live in an apartment or condo, you can look out for the young trees by checking with your building management about their watering schedule.