New Live Oak Investment

[bluepacific]

Originally Posted by Makoclay

Thanks for the suggestions. The trees will be replaced if any die. I discussed this with the landscaper. That being said, I would be very surprized if 20% didn't make it. There are a couple that looked suspect when we put them in the ground but other than that I think the others will be fine.

My biggest concern today is if my pipe made it through the freezing temperatures on Wednesday night. The weatherman called for 32-33 degree temps so my watering hand (my father) turned off the water. Then it got down to around 28 degrees so we are concerned it may have ruptured the pipes.....we'll see....

I have to assume these pipes are above ground and exposed. Basically this is still winter time and the requirements for water are minimal since Oaks should be dormant. I would not only shut the water off, but also drain the lines if possible. I'd also recommend putting a generous layer of mulch around your trees to even prtect them as well for both winter as well as summer and water savings.

[ellie]

I commend you on your smart choices but I'm wondering if you shouldn't add more drippers to each tree, especially since you'll only be using the irrigation for the first couple of years till they become established.

I live/work in a similar climate to yours and have learned to recommend at least 2-3 emitters per tree or a loop of landscape dripline in order to uniformly water the rootball of the tree.

You're absolutely correct to use drip irrigation, but you'll get better results with more emitters with a lower GPH.

If you do it correctly, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a 90% success rate AND a responsible use of water. Remember, all of the those trees you plant will help conserve water in the future.

ADD-- I just reread your post and saw that you intend to run the system for 24 hours, twice a week. That's way, way too long. If you've done your pressure calculations correctly, you should be able to run the system for only an hour or so.

Visualize this, you're dripping two gallons of water onto the ground over the course of one hour. You probably only need to provide 3-5 gallons of water to each tree, twice a week, and allow it to percolate all the way down into the soil. You'll just be wasting water if you water much longer than that.

Oh geeze, I just read the fertilizer part. No, I wouldn't have put fertilizer in the hole, but it's too late. Aggressive fertilization will just waste fertilizer because what the tree doesn't use will just wash away. Pointless - doesn't matter how much money you have to throw at the situation, a bunch of fertilizer won't make them grow much faster. Large caliper trees usually don't grow much the first few years after planting. There are plenty of studies about this.

It is better to fertilize sparingly, but frequently, in order to achieve the best results. Time released fertilizer would help you achieve this. Ask the people at the nursery where you bought the trees to find out what they recommend.

So, now that you've done the hard work, it's time to relax and gently take care of your trees. OK?

[Makoclay]

Here are a few pictures of the trees we planted along the road. The last one is a picture of a magnolia. We planted two magnolias on either side of the gate at the entrance to the property.

[Makoclay]

These are pictures taken before we installed the irrigation system

[Tennesseestorm]

Nice. How long ago where these taken? If recent, you must live pretty far south to have that many leaves still on most of the trees.

[Tennesseestorm]

Originally Posted by si33

Tennessestorm, your oak sapling should be alright,even if it shivers a little this week. anyhow, id wait until early spring to transplant it..i recently moved a similar sized live oak this fall and its been doing just fine..just to be sure, when you transplant it, soak it with a mixture of water and a root stimulator.. this seemed to work well for the one im working with here.

Thanks SI33 - yes, they made it with stride, despite overnight lows dropping to a bone chilling 5° for two nights! The leaves appear to be fine. I think they are hardier now than the first winter I had them. They defoliated at 12° that winter, but not since. I have to move one before spring, I just hope it dont kill it.

[si33]

tennesseestorm,..Your welcome first off.. im sure your trees will appreciate the weather warming a little more over the coming days..i know there are alot of us looking to warmer days ahead..

In any event,..
When you decide to transplant , be sure that the site where you are going to be moving it is dug and ready shortly before taking up the tree..your goal is to not allow the tree to be exposed out of the ground for very long..

To minimalize any posibility of transplant shock,..be sure that the root ball is large enough to include as much root mass as possible..Also dig it deeper so that you will save as much of the tap root as possible..

Lastly, because the tree is around 3-4' tall, as you'd said in your first post, when you apply a root stimulator, use it at half strength when you plant it ( when you water the tree ).then apply at full strength later on, once the tree begins spring growth..

As far as brand preferance,..ive had alot of success with Green light..but i know that there are several on the market...it all depends on whats available in your area..

As for any possible frost related damage...if you see any, it should only be minor and primarly just to the tips.. Once the tree resumes growth,..any damage will quickly be replaced by lots of new growth come spring..

[Makoclay]

I can't believe how much these trees have grown. I had to replace one this past weekend. The tree I planted was a 45 gallon tree. When I planted the others in 2008 they were 30 gallon trees. Look how much smaller the new tree is compared to the others.

[Pitt Chick]

Nice! ... and thanks for the update!