Drip Irrigation for Trees

The reality of growing landscape trees in the Albuquerque area is that you will need to water them. Even Siberian elm and tree of heaven struggle when not watered at all! Certainly, the more desirable trees species will need irrigation to survive and grow in this hot desert region.

Drip irrigation is a common method used to get water to trees in landscapes. It can work well, but often it doesn’t. Here are a few pointers to get better long term results from your trees growing on drip irrigation.

First, don’t put them on the same system and schedule as flower beds and small shrubs, or very xeric (desert adapted) plants. Spend more up front on a system with multiple valves and programming options. Established trees do well when watered deeply (moisten the soil to two feet below the surface) but not so often that the soil is wet. Flood it, then let it dry down a bit. Once a week is a good target, but every site and every tree is slightly different.

Next, make sure that you are covering a lot of ground with a lot of emitters. Tree root systems can be broad, and watering right at the base of the trunk is ineffective. In-line emitter drip tubing is ideal. It can be configured to almost any space and with the built in emitters, we get away from individual emitters on strands of “spaghetti” tubing. Legacy Tree Company specializes in designing and installing tree-appropriate irrigation systems; give us a call! 

Contact us to find out more about our Albuquerque tree removal services.