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Rocky Mountain Gardening

Baby Trees, too much water?

17 years ago

I just planted some blue spruces (12-18 inch?) over the weekend and some are starting to wilt. I did everything I should have with the planting and didn't cut any corners but with watering in and clay soil, THEN the rain this week may have filled up the holes and the holes kept the water like a pot or something. It's all I can figger since I checked the moisture level with a small shovel and it is perfect now. Maybe the water did wet the roots too much at first, though, know what I mean?

I'm sad. I think they are improving as we dry out here, but I'm not sure because trees are kind of new to me.

Maybe it was the dangedable wind? Windburn? Today wasn't windy and was pretty warm and I think the trees look better - is it possible they could fully recover?

Gardening can be such a heartbreak. You labor over these babies and sometimes they just... die.

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Comments (4)

bpgreen
17 years ago
How often are you watering?

When did you plant the trees?

It may be too early to start worrying. Transplanting can be stressful, and trees often wilt even under the best of conditions when they are transplanted, then bounce back as they get sort of an equilibrium. I would continue watering them as the nursery recommended, adjusting for any rain.

If you bought from a reputable source, and you follow the recommendations, you can probably get a refund or replacement if they die within a certain time frame. I know I once bought a tree from Home Depot (not even a nursery) and it died on me. I happened to make an offhand comment about it once while in a Home Depot, and the guy told me to bring it in, even if I didn't have a receipt. They didn't have any of the size I killed, so they gave me the next size up they had available (it was MUCH bigger). The new tree has done very well.
herbalicious
Original Author
17 years ago
They are Home Depot trees, cool. :-) They look good now so maybe you are right about the shock. They were wilty mid day yesterday in the 90 plus heat but they were fine this morning. It's 1 pm and they look a bit wilty again. Whew it's HOT.
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mary_max
17 years ago
Home Depot is wonderful with their return policy on trees, shrubs, etc. You can take the tree back up to a year. I think that is really pretty good.
canyon_home
17 years ago
I'm no expert but I doubt that many trees are lost from overwatering so quickly after transplanting. More likely it is from other factors.

At my last home I had an area that was always damp from sprinker runoff. I tried a fir and a Vanderwolf pine in that spot but both died - each large B & B expensive trees. Each lived about a season and I swear you could smell the roots rotting when you got near. (Maybe my imagination) As stubborn as I am I tried a third time but dug a large, deep hole and put down some gravel with a drain below the gravel. (It was easy since it was on a hillside) I planted a small Scotch pine from a two gallon container - maybe $10. It's been about 7 years and last time I saw the tree it was at least 12 ft. tall.

The lesson I learned is to plant small trees and prepare the site properly. In fact, I rarely buy anything over 1 gal. anymore.

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