Start Date
09/08/2020
End Date
12/31/2021
Description
The most common causes of death of newly planted urban trees are under- or over-watering. The rising temperature caused more droughts and severe weather conditions has made this problem worse. To battle this problem, there are many guidelines written to prescribe how much water for newly planted. For example, Dr. Gilman (http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/woody/irrigation2.shtml) showed that 2” trees in southern climates need 2 to 3 gallons/day of water. While this study was carried out in Florida and in a specific soil type, it has been cited and used as general guideline for watering trees across the continent.
However, a few questions are not addressed by prescribing a certain amount of water to a newly planted tree.
1. How much water evaporates?
2. How much water runs off?
3. How much water drains to subsurface?
4. How much water consumed by weeds instead of the tree?
Without answers to these questions, the amount of water applied means nothing. Soil moisture, the water that become available to most tree species, should be the indicator for watering a tree or not. But it is harder to do than simply dump a certain amount of water onto the rootball. This talk will review some technologies for stabilizing soil moisture.
In addition, other factors that may not result in casualty, but greatly impacts the overall plant health and overall growth potential will also be discussed in this presentation. These factors include planting depth, girdling roots, mulching volcano, planting site, soil quality, diseases, and extreme weather conditions.
Distance Learning
Yes
Course Equivalency
No
Subjects
Parks & Recreation
Residential Design
Rural Landscape
Site Planning
Sustainable Development & Design
Transportation
Urban Planning & Design
Water / Stormwater Management
Health, Safety and Welfare
No
Hours
1.0
Learning Outcomes
- Learn the benefits and importance of urban forestry
- Study and learn common causes of plant death in urban environment
- Learn new technologies that help to solve the problems
Instructors
Dr. Wei Zhang, Dan Whitehead
Course Codes
Provider
Zynnovation LLC