We’ve been hearing from dozens of customers every day that their trees are dying. People are seeing brown leaves and dead branches and they are desperately wanting to know what they need to do, or what can be done to save their trees. The problem with most of these trees right now is under-watering. This summer in the Phoenix valley has been extremely dry and the trees are suffering.

Note: Overwatering can also be a problem, so please read carefully and follow the guidelines in the watering guide that we’ve posted below.

Key symptoms of underwatering:

1. Curled or wilted leaves that may be turning brown at the tips/edges
2. Sparse canopies
3. Off-color, scorched, or yellowish leaves

Remedies

1. Water more frequently (and deeper)
2. Mulch to lock in moisture

Remedy 1: Watering

We recommend the landscape watering guide from Water Use It Wisely.

• Emitter placement. First of all, if you have an irrigation system installed, you should be sure you know where to place emitters. This can be found on pages 3-6 of the guide. A common mistake we see is emitters being positioned too close to the base of the tree. Emitters should be positioned around the tree’s dripline, meaning the outer edge of the canopy.
• Watering schedule. We suggest you follow the guidelines below, found on page 12 of the landscape watering guide. That means deeply watering trees every 1-3 weeks in the summer time, depending on how drought-tolerant your trees are.

Remedy 2: Mulching

Organic mulch is amazing because as it breaks down, it feeds organic matter into the soil, and it keeps the soil cool and moist so your tree is more protected from the relentless Arizona sun and dry weather. Just be sure that you don’t pile up mulch around the base. Make sure that the tree trunk can breathe. When mulch is piled up in the form of a “mulch volcano” it has the effect of inviting decay and pests. We recommend 3-5 inches of wood chips, but other organic materials can work as well.

Also, consider signing up for a free delivery of our tree mulch.

Your plants need organic material to thrive. That’s why gardeners use soil that has organic material added to it and not just dirt. One problem, though, is that the organic material in soil is quickly burned up leaving behind only dirt. How can organic material be replenished? In nature, soil is kept fertile by a top layer of organic material that slowly breaks down over time. As it breaks down, it sends much-needed nutrients to the plant roots below. This layer is continually replenished by falling leaves and other decaying matter. In addition to feeding plant roots, this layer of organic material also locks in moisture.

Fortunately, tree service wood chips can be used to replicate a natural layer of organic material on top of your soil. Tree services are constantly creating wood chips, and they consider them to be waste products, so they are cheap and easy to get. Because the Arizona desert is so hot and dry during the summer, a top-layer of mulch is essential. Adding a top-layer of wood chips to your roses, for example, can mean plentiful flowers all summer with very little water. The wood chips lock in moisture and they feed the plants. It’s a win-win.

Caution: Do not stir wood chips into your soil. Leave them on top and let them slowly compost into the soil. If you stir a large amount of wood chips into the soil, the composting process will tie up all of the soil’s nitrogen, leaving your plants deficient.