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Health & Fitness

Cornell 'Log Blog" on Suburban Forestry

Hydrate for healthy trees.

Our dry, fairly warm winter has been putting a lot of stress on our trees. 

Although deciduous trees are dormant, roots are still growing slowly through the dormant season. They need supplemental watering. Evergreen trees, and shallow rooted trees such as Maple, Linden, and Birch are most at risk from drying winds.

Evergreen trees will show water stress immediatiely with browning leaves. Deciduos trees will wait till spring when signs of spring will be, small leaves, branch dieback and yellowing leaves. 

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Your trees need you, so please give them a slow long drink, several gallons for each inch of tree diameter.  Water during the day when temperature is above 40 degrees, so water can penetrate before soil freezing.  Do not water when the soil is frozen.

Give a street tree some water too. It's good for the whole neighborhood.

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