Time to Water, Water, Water!!

   Summer is here and the need to water any recently planted trees and shrubs is crucial.  Regular watering after planting encourages the roots to establish faster.  The less established the tree, the quicker its rootball will dry out especially during times of high heat and drought.  The soil should be kept moist two inches below the surface which may require daily watering for young trees during their first two summers. Mulching is especially important during this time to help the soil retain its moisture.

Ruby showcasing our homemade double rain barrel system. Overflow from the barrel under the gutter spout funnels in to the second through a connecting PCV pipe. With both barrels we are able to water our houseplants and our new trees as well keep our kiddie (doggy) pool filled all spring and summer. Our water and sewer bill is amazingly low, even with the rate increases.

Cris Miller, chair of the Tree Commission, demonstrates how a Gator Bag works. The  bag zips up around the tree and has a 20 gallon pouch with tiny holes around the bottom edge. The water slowly drips onto the soil over a period of five or six hours, soaking to depth of the rootball. The bag should be refilled a minimum of twice a week, if not more when rainfall is scarce.

Twenty seven trees were planted a couple years ago at Kelleher Park and only eleven have survived due to insufficient watering. This spring, the Tree Commission placed a Gator Bag on each tree and volunteer Scott Hanley has agreed to fill the bags each week using the city's watering truck. 

There are at least eighty new street trees throughout the city that now require frequent watering. The city of Newburyport has hired a watering contractor, Mark Godfroy of Lady Tracey Ann, Inc to fulfill this task.  His Newburyport rounds take him a couple of hours, not including the time to refill the tanks to finish the job. 

Mark's assistant, Fonzy, at the Department of Public Works water pump fills up each of the two two hundred fifty gallon tanks on Mark's truck. Until now, they have been watering every two weeks. They will refill the Gator Bags weekly throughout July and August. 

This is Mark's first season working for Newburyport. He services several other towns and cities. 

Curious DPS employee

The first stop on the watering route is Perry Way. There are four new saplings across from the River Valley Charter School. 

Fonzy wishes there were Gator Bags back when he planted a Birch Tree in his yard. It was a hot summer and the tree didn't survive. 

Jim McCarthy came up with an ingenious setup to get water delivered to the Little River Nature Trail entrance on Storey Ave. He does not want this young White Oak to suffer the same fate as Fonzy's Birch Tree. Thanks to Jim's donation to Friends of Newburyport Trees, the Tree Commission was able to purchase and plant the oak this Spring.

Jim fills up the cooler with his garden hose at home and slides it to the edge of his truck to reach the Gator Bag.  He also uses this system to water his beautification project at the Rt. 1 Traffic Circle. 

 Above and beyond the cost of purchasing and planting each tree, $240 per tree is budgeted by the Tree Commission to water, prune and mulch it for two years. Friends of Newburyport Trees is a non-profit group that supports this effort of the Tree Commission with fund-raising, grants and individual contributions. Donations to FoNT can be sent to Box 1155, Newburyport, MA 01950 or through PayPal at  www.fontrees.org. Our supporters are encouraged to send in pictures of themselves, pets, friends and family posed with their favorite tree to add to our website as we begin to update it. For more information, contact kimkudym@comcast.net.