Planting Trees That Don't Use Much Water

Many drought tolerant trees are irrigated by the use of drip lines. Initially A small tree doesn't require much water. The quantity of water for each tree may be set for one gallon every day. That keeps the tree alive and tree may grow quite well. The roots stay where the water is so the tree doesn't develop a good root system. A hard Wind may blow the tree over; especially if the wind comes just after they are irrigated. The roots don't grow beyond the wet soil from one gallon of water. If the tree survives the wind, the water is turned off because it is felt that it can grow in the yard like it grows in its native environment. When the supplementary water is shut off the tree begins to suffer from the lack of water. It is better to give the tree seven gallons of water once a week instead of one gallon everyday. As the tree grows water should be applied further from the trunk to encourage roots to move out. The tree has a much better chance of surviving on water from the sky if the roots have grown out a substantial distance from the trunk of the tree. Many of the drought tolerant trees have roots that grow a foot below the surface of the ground, but are way beyond the drip line. There are some years that there is not enough rainfall to soak the soil more than a foot deep. The trees have and extensive shallow root system that can capture rainfall.