Watering Trees

A neighbor has an orange bucket next to a tree he planted 2 years ago.  I had wondered about that.  Then today, I remembered a watering trick from a gardening magazine.  Its funny how the brain can dredge up old information.

The idea was to slowly drip water from a small hole in the bucket onto the roots of a tree so it wouldn't run off.  AHA!  I have a few 5 gallon buckets around for various uses.  So I took a green one (blends better into the background), drilled a very small hole into the bottom and set it next to the Sourwood tree I an trying to bring back to growth.

I love the Sourwood Tree.  It has red and gold seeds and leaves in Fall.  I planted 3 when I first moved here.  1 remains and it is only 3 feet high.  I don't water the front yard as well as the back.  Well, I live in the back and don't care about the front much (I'm changing that). 

So I placed the 5 gallon bucket just uhill from the tree, filled it up with a hose, and watched what happened.  It took 2 HOURS for the water to drip out the tiny hole.  RThat means every drop went down into the root zone.

I LOVE this idea and will use the bucket all around the front yard plants.  The advantage is that the bucket has a 5 gallons of water, but no more.  I used to leave a hose dripping water out very slowly but I never knew how much it was getting (and forget it was going overnight sometimes.)  THIS way, its 5 gallons and no need to remember it later.

What a great idea!