Please Water Those Young Street Trees

by Marlene Berlin

I may be a bit obsessed about my new street trees. But I am determined to help them survive our often brutally hot and dry summers.

Though it’s hard to imagine right now, with all the rain and relatively mild temperatures we’ve had, summer will soon arrive with a vengeance. Watering every two weeks, as the city is supposed to do for the first five months after a tree is planted, is not enough. So it’s wise to fill up the green water bags at the base of the trees once per week unless we have had a nice, soaking rain.

In between city watering stops recently, my trees looked a little peaked, so I went out to water them. A neighbor even stopped to watch me fill the bags. She had not realized what they were for. She also told me she’d tell a friend of hers on our block about watering. So if you can, it helps to spread the word.

I did notice a glitch with one of the new bags. They are supposed to empty within four to five hours, but one of them remained full of water. I poked some holes in the bottom of the bag with a grilling fork to let the water out. So check your bags to make sure they are emptying.

The city is investing our taxes into maintaining our street canopy. Let’s not let that money go to waste. Help by watering new trees in front of your homes.

And please don’t worry if you see me shaking the green water bags as I walk up our street. Just checking.