Lawn and Garden

[Brad Mills, Host]

Nebraska Extension Almanac. Dry weather this fall and winter may have some consequences in your home landscape this spring. Your trees, young and old, will need some extra attention, and that means getting some good water on them to help them thrive this spring. Nebraska extension instructor Dana Freeman talks about proper methods to get your trees, the water they need, on today's almanac.

[Dana Freeman, Nebraska Extension Instructor]

So we've had a dry fall and winter, and even though we might be getting some water this spring, our trees are still showing signs of drought stress.

That can look like trees that are slow to leaf out.

Trees with leaves that are smaller than usual, or even show some tip die back.

So there are still some things that you can do to help your trees bite this drought stress.

That will include supplemental watering and mulching.

But before we get the hose out, it's important to think about and determine how much water our trees really need.

Because overwatering is just as problematic as underwatering.

So to check the soil moisture, we'll use a long screwdriver or a soil probe, and what we want to do is stick that soil probe into the ground, 6 to 9 inches, because that's where most of the absorbing roots are.

If we pull that out, kind of like sticking a toothpick and a cake batter, and the soil is moist, then it's probably okay and we don't need to water.

But if we stick that soil probe in there, and we either can get the soil probe down 69 inches, or it's dry and dusty, then we probably need to add some supplemental watering.

So, will water new and young trees a little bit differently than our mature trees?

When we're watering our young trees, what we want to do is think about establishing deeper roots.

And that will look like potentially using a 5 gallon bucket with a quarter inch hole in the bottom.

You can estimate how much water a tree needs by using 10 gallons of water for each inch of trunk diameter.

That means a two inch diameter tree would need about 20 gallons of water.

So if you're using your five gallon bucket, That's four or five gallon buckets.

As we think about watering our mature trees, even though they have larger roots, they still need help when it's this dry outside.

So what we want to do is, instead of using the five gallon bucket, we'll use a soaker hose.

And we can spiral that in a pattern, kind of nearer the tree's canopy.

Then what you do is turn on your water, and kind of let it run for an hour, and then come back and recheck using your soil probe.

You may need to keep going in water just until you get until that top 6 to 9 inches of soil is moist.

Another thing, you can't just rely on water alone.

Mulching is something that we can do that's pretty easy, and that can really help our landscapes.

So adding two to four inches of an organic woodchip mulch is a great way to support your trees during periods of drought.

A common mistake that we often see is that folks rely on their lawn irrigation systems to provide water and think that's enough for their trees.

But watering deeply for turf is only 4 to 6 inches, wherein that's not enough for our tree roots, as we've talked about.

Prioritizing watering your woody trees is a great way to keep your landscape healthy and sustainable, even during these periods of drought and challenging growing conditions.

For more information, check out your local extension office, and they'd be happy to help you out.

Remember, your trees have vastly different water needs than your turf.

Just because your grass is green doesn't mean your trees have had enough water.

So take a look at your trees this weekend and followed these tips to make sure they're getting the water they need.

[Brad Mills, Host]

For Nebraska Extension Almanac, I'm Brad Mills. Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR media and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu. 

JeffRoundupReplace26 Transcript:

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Nebraska Extension Almanac. A popular, yet controversial, non selective herbicide glyphosate has been associated with the brand name roundup. Recently, the roundup brand has changed its formulation that is glyphosate free and all of its horticultural products. UNL director of landscape services, Jeff Culbertson, talks about how roundup has a new formulation with different ingredients.

[Jeff Culbertson, UNL Director of Landscape Services]
One of the products, roundup, historically, has been really synonymous with the chemical glyphosate.

So maybe in years gone past, people would have said, get some roundup and spray that weed with roundup, and they were talking about using glyphosate.

Currently, round up, that brand round up now is really made up of several different chemicals.

So it can be many different products, so it's really when you pick up a bottle that says round up on it, that you look at the label closely, and look at the plants or pests that it may control to make sure that you're getting the right product, because no longer is glyphosate in the recipe for roundup products.

And again, so it's important to look at that label, look at some of the restrictions that those many different chemicals now will have when you're using some of these combination products that round up now produces.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Jeff says there are other products that contain non selective herbicides that are a replacement for the traditional glyphosate roundup.

[Jeff Culbertson, UNL Director of Landscape Services]
There are, however, other versions of non selective herbicides out there.

And again, there's, when you go to the, to the nursery and look at your products, there's really a lot of things to choose from.

There's some that may be advertising that it's a more natural product that may contain certain salts or oils, and certain products like that.

So again, while they may sound very friendly to us, and they may be.

Again, it's really important to look at the label, look at some of the restrictions, make sure that you're applying it to the right plant, and that it works well for your particular situation.

So, again, there's products out there that are easy for us to use.

They come in ready to use format, which is very convenient.

And there are just really a lot of variety of parties out there on the shelf today.

So it's important to look at the labels carefully and not just look at the brand of it.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
Finally, Jeff talks about how using common yard tools to control weeds is also very effective.

[Jeff Culbertson, UNL Director of Landscape Services]
And then, you know, never forget that, uh, like, Terry likes to promote the use of a weed knife, that's really your simplest, safest way to get rid of weeds, and sometimes it may seem a little much to go out and dig up a bunch of dandelions, but I can tell you, once you've spent 15 or 20 minutes, you'd be surprised how many dandelions you can dig up and get them out of there, and you won't have to worry about them again.

[Brad Mills, Program Host]
The best way to ensure you are using the right product is to first identify the weed pest that needs controlling. Second step is to understand what active ingredients are in the product you want to use. Making sure it is applicable to your yard and garden.  And finally, if you are going to use chemical products on your lawn garden, make sure you thoroughly read and follow the label instructions for specific application techniques and guidelines. You can ask your garden center professional or local extension educator for help when it comes to these products. For Nebraska Extension Almanac. I'm Brad Mills.
Nebraska Extension Almanac is a production of IANR Media and Nebraska Extension. For more information on how your university is serving Nebraskans, go to extension.unl.edu.