This has been a terrible year for the pecan trees of Austin, TX. Quite a sad story I must say. The drought of 2008-2009 has been said to be the worst 2 year drought period in 60 years. It has taken a toll on the pecan trees for sure. This year we’ve cut down many pecans that didn’t leaf out this spring. Many more did come out with severe die-back.
Summer heat stress is one of the number one tree killers I run into. Okay, realistically no tree ever dies from just one problem, but rather a cumulative affect of many stress factors. Heat and drought stress are stress factor that almost all trees in the central Texas area deal with on an annual basis. So, if your tree has some other factor stressing it out, the summer heat might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I see more trees die during the summer time than any other time of the year.
Continue reading How Summer Heat Stress Affects Your Trees
You should water your trees. Watering your tree can be the best treatment for improving tree health. But, watering improperly will provide zero or negative help to your trees and waste a valuable resource. The complicated part of knowing how much to water is recognizing that different trees have different needs and different planting sites will have different drainage and water holding characteristics. This blog isn’t about learning to be a hydrologist, but here are a few general tips to point you in the right direction for properly hydrating your tree.
Continue reading Water Your Trees, How Much and When