Prepare Plants and Trees  

Why are there so many trees blown over after a monsoon storm? 

It all comes down to two things:  How you water and how you prune!

Everyone has seen trees and other plants heavily damaged or even snapped off at the ground from microbursts and strong winds. There’s nothing that can be done if they are hit with so much force. However, here are some guidelines to help keep your plants and trees healthy and strong so there's less chance of damage:

• Water deeply but infrequently to establish a strong root system. A strong root system is the foundation to your plants stability.
• Don’t over-fertilize or overwater as it can cause excessive top growth. A top-heavy plant is less stable.
• Leave lower branches on trees and shrubs so the wind blows OVER them … not under their canopy. In other words, don’t prune your trees to look like umbrellas. What happens to an umbrella in a windstorm?
• Thinning of trees is often recommended by well-meaning professionals. However, it is stressful for your trees and is often overdone. Trees respond with a new flush of growth that may be weakly attached, requires the use of more water, and causes more wind resistance. See articles listed below for more on this topic.

Here are some other helpful articles:

• Save Your Trees from Monsoon Damage
• Monsoon Season: 5 Common Landscape Mistakes
• Top 5 Reasons to Collect Rainwater for Your Landscape

Your goal is to soak the root ball and the surrounding soil with water, penetrating 1 to 3 feet relative to the size of the plant. Depending on your soil type, 1" of water on the surface will penetrate approximately 6-10" into the soil. Here is a quick guide to help: Monthly Watering Schedule

What are the benefits to watering deeply and infrequently?

1. Watering slowly allows for our Arizona clay-based soil to get wet. Quick watering encourages run-off rather than deep penetration into the soil. 

2. Deep watering ensures water gets down to lower levels in the soil instead of just at the surface. Location of moisture deeper in the soil profile encourages roots to grow deeper in search of water, which helps to develop a stronger and more resilient root system. Use a soil probe or very long screwdriver to see how deep the water is penetrating the soil. 

3. Shallow watering causes roots to stay near the soil surface where they are more susceptible to stress, especially during a hot, windy day when the surface can dry out quickly.

4. Remember, during the hot summer afternoons water evaporates out of the top 3 inches of soil. Watering deeper and less frequently ensures that the water reaches the roots. 

5, The "Do I water after it rains?" test: Take a soil probe or hand trowel and dig. Most likely, even after a good rain, the water only went a couple of inches beneath the surface. Using wood chips in areas with drought sensitive plants helps keep the soil moist and reduces evaporation after a rain or monsoon event allowing the water to continue to move downward instead of skyward.

Water us it Wisely has great rainwater harvesting tips Here is tip #1:

Rainwater is a clean, salt-free source of water that contains many beneficial ingredients for plants. Did you know that a typical home rooftop can collect about 500 gallons of water from just ½” of rain? Try and direct the rain to your plants, not the street. Just be careful not to direct the water too close to your home's foundation. 

Here’s our advice:

• Direct rainwater to your plants, not the street. Learn more about rainwater harvesting.
• Turn off your controller if you get ½” of rain or more and skip one irrigation cycle. If you don’t have a rain sensor connected to your controller, you can use the ‘off’ ‘stop’ or ‘rain’ setting on the controller to stop the watering cycle without disturbing your programs.
• Build a rain garden: Rain gardens are small, shallow, sunken areas of plantings that collect storm water runoff from roofs, streets, and sidewalks. Also known as bioretention cells, they are designed to mimic the natural ways water flows over and absorbs into land to reduce storm water pollution. 
• Install a rain barrel to save the rain for later. Avondale Water Conservation has a rain barrel rebate!

Rain garden coloring book

Come learn how to redesign your yard into a xeriscape paradise with Watershed Management Group's rainwater Harvesting class. Look for upcoming classes on our  WaterWise Workshop page.