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Talking Trees with Davey Tree
The Dirt on Drought Stress: Signs and Solutions You Need to Know
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Izzy Christmann from Lewis Tree Service, a Davey Company, breaks down drought stress, including how to spot the signs, choose drought-tolerant species, follow best watering practices and more.
To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.
To learn more about drought stress, please read our blogs How to Keep Your Landscape Resilient During Seasonal Summer Drought, The Dirt on Drought Stress and Its Effect on Your Trees, How to Pick the Right Trees for Drought-Prone Landscapes and Signs and Symptoms of Tree Stress (Plus Treatment).
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Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!
Welcome to the Deby Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oester. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer. I'm joined again this week by Izzy Christman. She's a sales arborist for the Lewis Tree Service, which is a Davy company in beautiful Santa Cruz, California. Today we're talking about one of the worst things that uh can happen to anyone who grows plants, a drought. Izzy, welcome back to the show. How are you?
SPEAKER_01Hi, I'm good. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so let's talk about drought. I guess first, how do I
Drought stress signs in trees
SPEAKER_00know if my tree is really struggling during a drought? What are the what are the signs?
SPEAKER_01There are definitely a list of signs. Um, a really, really obvious one is leaf loss. If you've got a deciduous tree and it's dropping, dropping its leaves much earlier in the year than it should be. That is a 100% sign of drought. Um, also wilty leaves or leaves that start to curl. That can kind of be the step before the leaf drop that's indicating drought and that a tree is pretty thirsty with super, super hot weather. You can get some scorching on the edges of the leaves and the leaf margins. Um, kind of get some brown, curled up crunchiness on the edges. Um, another great sign is a thinning canopy. If you look at a tree and think, wow, that looks a lot less dense than it did last year, chances are the tree is going through drought stress over several years. Um dead branches, dying branches, always a telltale sign of drought that means the branch is dead. There's no live tissue on it. It's probably cutting off resources to try and keep the rest of the tree alive. And wood-boring insects, secondary pests, are always a huge indicator of drought stress. Oftentimes homeowners think that these things are the culprit of killing trees, which they can, but they are usually a secondary problem to an already stressed-out tree.
Santa Cruz's climate and trees
SPEAKER_00So in Santa Cruz, California, tell me a little bit about your climate. What kind of rain do you guys get? And you're right on the ocean, and I'm sure that has to play an important role with the climate, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, definitely. So this year we have had a pretty hot spring, which is going to lead into a hot summer. So talking to clients about drought and making sure they're watering trees has been very important. We had a couple weeks in early March that were already 80 degrees. So as you can imagine, that's not typical. And then for a few weeks in April back down into the 60s, so it's really kind of stressing these trees out and shocking them in a sense because we're going from these crazy high temps in a time that would typically be rainy to lower temps in a time when it would be warming up and then back to consistent 70-degree sunny days with not much rain. Um, so the trees you can definitely tell, some have been prematurely curled leaves. Um, they are just not leafing out as early as they should have. I've seen a plethora of trees that haven't even pushed out leaves yet, which is definitely an indicator of something's going on there. Um, being as close to the coast as we are, we do get some gray May June gloom, which does help with some of that heat because you know we're not getting scorching sun early on, but we do have to deal with salt burn from that, which is another stressor on live foliage that on top of drought can cause some trees to go into decline. Um, but yeah, definitely has been a lack of water this spring, and you will start seeing that effect in mature trees if you don't see it right away within over the course of the next couple of years. Um, so it's something I always try and explain to clients. Gotta be thinking proactively, not reactively, because once a mature tree is in decline and on its way out, it's really hard to replace those old trees.
SPEAKER_00So obviously, water is the answer. Let's talk a little bit about that. The
Watering
SPEAKER_00right way to water. How about the right time to water? Does it matter with trees? You know, here on the East Coast, we don't water our tomatoes late at night because they're, you know, uh susceptible to fungal diseases. What about trees? When should we water our trees?
SPEAKER_01So, watering trees, especially in the summertime in the hotter months, you kind of want to water between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. to maximize the effectiveness. Um, that is because when it's super hot in the middle of the day, a lot of that water and surface water is going to evaporate before it can actually get down into that 8 to 12 inches of soil where all the roots that absorb nutrients and the water are at. So yeah, avoid watering in the afternoon. Definitely stick to morning and evenings.
SPEAKER_00And do I use a formula or do I test the soil? How do I know how much water to give a tree? Because they're all sorts of different sizes. And I think the big trees are the ones that get neglected the most. People figure, ah, it's a big tree, you know, it can take up all the water. I'm gonna make sure that my little trees they don't need as much water and easier to water. How do I know how much to put on?
SPEAKER_01I think a good general rule of thumb is like a gallon for every inch of diameter a tree is. They can survive just like a monthly watering from the months of April to October. Um, basically, the trick with mature trees is you want to give them a deep watering, either using a soaker hose or some kind of deep root watering probe. You really want to get that water into that 8 to 12 inches because, again, surface watering, you can either deal with evaporation or you have other surface-level shrubs, grasses, plants that are gonna soak up all that water before it gets down into those absorptive roots on the mature trees. Um, if you can spare water as a homeowner, watering them twice a month is a great option too. Um, and if the tree is deciduous and loses its leaves, you probably only need to water it monthly or maybe not at all from like November to March.
SPEAKER_00And so in your area, when we get to the
How common is drought in Santa Cruz?
SPEAKER_00summer, is it always drought or it could be depends on the season?
SPEAKER_01I think it depends on the season. There's always the talks of a year being an El Nino year or non-El Nino year. I mean, again, we've been having 75 degree days and super sunny, and today it's raining randomly out of the blue, so temperature kind of can fluctuate all over, but definitely seems like this is one of the more drought years in California. The snowpack was like, you know, 48% of what it typically is, so there just was not a lot of moisture. There's mainly what we have been dealing with here, storm-wise, has been a lot of wind versus rainy, stormy seasons. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Does
Does wind affect a tree's water supply?
SPEAKER_00wind affect the trees as far as their water? I mean, are they transpiring because of more wind or not really?
SPEAKER_01Not really. I think when trees are younger, it can kind of help them establish like stronger roots, but not much when it comes to drought.
SPEAKER_00When you get a rain like you've having today, does it make you smile? Because you know it's going to help out the trees a little bit. You won't have to worry so much with your clients?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. And I think when it comes to watering and people, people in Santa Cruz, there's a lot of fire hazard and insurance things that have been putting into place with you know having to keep things X amount of feet away from homes. And so drought tolerant landscapes, hardscapes, all of that is slowly being incorporated. And you know, I've seen a lot more in Santa Cruz County specifically, succulents, um, yuccas, things that you know don't require as much water, very few lawns just to try and be, you know, drought conscious and conscious about how much water people are using as well.
Water restrictions
SPEAKER_00So when there are watering restrictions, is it okay in general if you're watering smartly to keep trees alive? Is it okay to put water on them? Is there like a you know, you can use so many gallons per whatever the time is? Is that how the restriction works?
SPEAKER_01Or that yeah. So basically I think what happens is rates and what they charge for water becomes more expensive, which is why people tend to be more conservative because during these hotter months, it's kind of the same way that electricity works, where during peak hours things are going to be charged more. So if you're using more water, they're gonna be charging you more. Um, but again, the like deep, like soaker hose waterings where things are just either on a trickle or you're actually making a conscious effort to get that water into the ground, you're not gonna be wasting as much water, and it's a much more like effective method without having to worry about sprinklers that are hitting the wall and watering the pavement or anything of that nature.
SPEAKER_00So oh, Izzy, it drives me crazy. Sometimes I go into my radio studio and it's raining like crazy, and their sprinklers are running. Oh, yeah. You know, here on the East Coast, the the water isn't as restricted, but people in general are not watering the smart way. We've
Mulching
SPEAKER_00talked on this podcast uh incessantly about mulching, and of course, we know when we're talking about mulching, we want to mulch the right way. Is that a is that something certainly that's going to help us retain some moisture underneath those trees?
SPEAKER_01Yes, definitely. Applying mulch can help retain the moisture, can help deter pests, insects, rot diseases around the base of a tree. Um, applying a two to four inch layer of mulch will definitely help keep that moisture in around the base of the tree. Doing a nice little ring, you know, three feet or so away from the trunk really helps. What you want to avoid doing is building that mulch up around the tree, what we call volcano mulching. What that can do is lock moisture in around a trunk and create rot, cankers, just things that will ultimately stress the tree out. But mulching is a great, great option for water retention.
SPEAKER_00Oh, Izzy, we talk about volcano mulch about every other show. If I'm riding in a truck with you and you go by one of these HOAs that has volcano mulch, what am I going to hear from you?
SPEAKER_01Oh, a big sigh, or probably some kind of a comment about it. Ironically enough, I was over in the Northeast a couple months ago and volcano mulching was present in almost every single commercial building landscape that I drove by. But luckily out here we don't see too much of that. But yeah.
SPEAKER_00What are you using for mulch out there? Is it any different than we would use on the East Coast?
SPEAKER_01Probably not. We at Lewis Tree dump chips in our yard here. We're fortunate enough to do that. So we are constantly like recycling our wood chips and mulch. We have multiple landscape companies, private people. They just come, we'll load them up with chips. We also deliver chips to people. So that is a great option. Getting wood chips, also just organic matter, natural organic matter, leaves that fall from the trees, needle, just any kind of debris, just letting that organic matter sit back down and give back to the soil. Um, those are all great options for mulching.
Planting drought-tolerant trees
SPEAKER_00Out there, what are you thinking when you find the right place for it? A tree that will handle drought when you know, when you're thinking about planting, and uh what are some of the choices out there?
SPEAKER_01Um, there are a lot of good trees. I mean, everything grows out here. We have such a like nice temperate climate that everything tends to just survive and thrive. Um, we got things that even when they're stressed out, they're still pushing out crazy growth. But the city of Santa Cruz came up with a really nice list that I always provide to people of trees that are drought tolerant. We have a lot of crepe myrtles, a lot of Chinese pistache, um, tons of redwoods around in town, even when they shouldn't be as close to homes as they are. Lots of redwoods, those tend to be pretty drought resistant. Um, lots of coast live oaks, those are also a great drought-resistant tree. Smaller, some are huge and mature.
Planting redwoods
SPEAKER_00If you have the right property, can you plant a redwood? Because it seems like just a tree that's going to get so big.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, if you have the right property in the space, definitely would be okay. But we run into a lot of houses with, you know, these trees that can get up to over 200 feet tall within four feet of their home, and the roots, you know, can spread up to a hundred feet from the trunk. And so they're getting into the foundation and to the sewer lines to tap into these water sources and creating problems for homeowners.
How do dry summers affect an arborist's job?
SPEAKER_00When we get to the summer, and if you do have a dry summer, how does it affect your job?
SPEAKER_01Typically, I just try to be a more observant arborist and educate clients because sometimes people don't always necessarily know the signs of drought, or they just aren't consciously paying attention to these little what seem minimal changes to a homeowner are just like very obvious signs to me as an arborist in my day-to-day. So just educating people on watering practices, mulching, soil care, um, things to just give their trees more longevity.
Izzy's job as an arborist
SPEAKER_01Tell me a little bit about your job. So, in sales day-to-day, I mean, I love to consider myself an educator because more often than not, lots of people don't know as much about trees as I do. And I typically meet with a client and go over their needs, and even if I come to a property just for one specific tree or they want to prune one tree or have a removal, I always like to try and open the door to walking around and looking through the entire property because you never know what you might uncover or what other tips that you could provide them and just build that rapport with somebody because even if you don't necessarily sell something during that time, you just providing them with tips and tricks, you're gonna be that person that comes to mind when they do need something later down the line.
SPEAKER_00Does
Do arborist crews water client trees?
SPEAKER_00a crew water, or do you just tell the client you need to water?
SPEAKER_01Um, deep root watering is definitely something any office can do that has a PhD truck. You know, you can fill up that truck and go out. We do a watering route here for the city of Santa Cruz for a lot of their newly planted trees. Um, it also just depends, you know, on a homeowner and what they can do. Some people want to press the easy button and have a company do it, but others are more than willing to do it themselves and buy the tools to do a deep root watering.
Deep root watering
SPEAKER_00When you do a deep root watering, kind of explain to me how that works because it sounds absolutely awesome. Anyone that's ever dealt with a a drought and looking at their trees, a deep root watering, oh man, that that that will get them a long way uh through through this that that period.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. Um, basically, it would just be setting up a plan, figuring out you know how many times a month a client would be comfortable with, and then setting our plant healthcare technician up to go out to that property um and do a little grid around the tree based on its DBH, make sure we have enough water for the property that we are doing services at. And yeah, I've been offering waterings and plant health care programs to newly planted trees because I think sometimes you know life gets busy, people are working, not everybody is consciously remembering to give that new tree um water weekly. So, you know, if we can provide a service to alleviate something else that somebody has to remember, um, people really like that.
SPEAKER_00Out on the West Coast where you're at,
Best time to plant on the west coast
SPEAKER_00tell me about the planting schedule. Can you plant like year-round or do you do spring, winter? What's the best time to plant for you out there?
SPEAKER_01I would definitely say best time to plant is like fall, fall to spring. Um, the summer months just get so hot. I think it's really, really hard for a newer, younger tree to establish. And on top of that, just the direct heat can just scorch the leaves. And you know, with younger trees, you want as much foliage on them as possible so they can become big, happy, healthy trees. So definitely would recommend spring and fall. We're kind of just now getting into like the end of planting season. We're kind of teetering and it's really hot weather. The ground is super hard. Um, so not necessarily the best time in the summer.
SPEAKER_00I know we've talked about it before, but before I let you go, tell me
How did Izzy get into this industry?
SPEAKER_00how you got into this and why this job is your thing.
SPEAKER_01So I was an intern with Davy Tree, my junior year of college. I was studying forestry, natural resources at Cal Poly, San Luis, Obispo. Um, and post-college, it worked out for me to go back to that same shop that I interned at. And I worked in the field for a few years and then got the opportunity to take the step into sales, which I'm a huge people person. I love building relationships, I love educating. So that just seemed like the natural way to go for me, and I have stuck with it since.
SPEAKER_00Well, Izzy, thanks so much. Great information. Great to talk to you again and appreciate your time. And I know we'll talk to you again. Thanks so much.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees Podcast from the Deby Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oester, and as always, I just want you to subscribe to the podcast so you'll never miss a show. We'd love to hear from you, and there's a couple different ways to do it. Send us an email to podcasts at Davey.com. That's P-O-D, C-A-S-T-S at d A V E Y dot com. You can also click the link at the end of our show notes to text us a fan mail message. Your ideas could be in a future show, and as always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast. Trees are the answer.