RESULTS
OF LARGE TREE WATERING
It is BEFORE and AFTER 3 years.
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No fertilizer was applied.
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Frequency of watering: 4 times per year or less
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Watering dose: 10 days of transpiration volume = huge
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Application with: TREEIB watering bags
General results and experience
We have entirely restored most of the trees damaged by drought to their original beauty and health in 2-3 years. And most of them are in much better condition and growth than before. They are a benchmark of health and growth, their branches bursting with foliage. When we applied water without significant improvement, we looked for other possible causes for four trees. These were older Prunus trees. Fertilization alone was not successful. So, we have been raising the pH to neutral and improving the soil moisture with humids and charcoal. Worse improvement was seen in trees where fallen leaves were regularly cleaned up at the end of the season. The same species elsewhere showed significantly better vitality with the same soil nutrient analysis results. It suggests that even on However, as organic matter content has not been tested, we will do these tests in the spring.
See The site description, information about the drought in Czechia and the impact on the trees on the test site at the bottom of the page.
We observed improvements in the following areas during the 4 years of watering large trees:
GROWTH
We observed rapid primary and secondary growth after we began watering mature trees in the fall of 2018. The irrigation dose was 3000-9000 liters / 800-2380 US gallons per tree. The maximum frequency of watering was four times per year.
Change was already visible in late spring 2019, and much more was visible during the 2020 season. The leaf/needle biomass increased rapidly with the growth of new shoots. The leaves produced more assimilates, which improved the quality of fruits and the production of nutrients, that would be stored for the next season. Because the assimilates are stored in fine roots during winters, and the substrate was wet enough, the season of 2020 was even more successful in terms of the quantity and quality of the leaf biomass. The cumulative effect on healthy growth began.
TREE RING ANALYSIS 2023
confirms
RAPID GROWTH
of watered Picea abies vs
not watered Pinus sylvestris
On September 1, 2023, samples were collected by colleagues from Mendel University, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, based in Brno, The Czech Republic. Samples were processed by the Dendrochronology lab of the Czech Globe, Global Change Research Institute, The Czech Republic.
By clicking the picture, download the graph in pdf.
By clicking the picture, download the source chart in mm/inch in pdf.
PICTURES
from August 2023
SHOW
SIGNIFICANT GROW
ON SHOOTS
Measurements are taken in metric units.
30 cm = 1 foot
2,5 cm = 1 inch
RE-GROWTH
PROBLEM: Dieback on trees
Trees drop leaves or needles when they are stressed. And they stop growing. They even lose some twigs or branches. And eventually, they can die.
It is a physiological reaction that humans do not love. Aesthetics is one side, but health is a more significant concern for many educated tree owners and care professionals.
WE GO FURTHER:
The most important is that losing foliage and dying back in branches drastically impacts ecosystem services production and the root system of the trees.
If the tree does not grow, meaning gaining biomass, the production of ecosystem services drops to zero in many aspects, including carbon sequestration and cooling. When fewer smaller leaves are on trees, noise reduction is not so good compared to many big leaves on trees. And so on.
FELLING MIGHT NOT BE NECESSARY
When dieback appears in a crown, it is the beginning of their end for many trees. Removing a city tree in time of climate emergency is very undesirable. The community loses a wide range of ecosystem services provided by the tree. And the whole planet suffers from losing the potential for carbon sequestration, and the carbon stored in the removed tree will probably end up in the atmosphere again. And the high carbon levels make climate change worse.
PICTURES
from August 2023 and
from September 2019
SHOW
RE-GROWTH OF NEEDLES
ON CONIFERS.
PRELIMINARY:
Removal will likely be necessary for fewer trees.
We replicated extraordinary phenomena, which we experienced for the first time in 2019 on spruces. In 2023, we replicated on a pine. After one or two watering doses, branches with dieback on tips got a new generation of needles, sprouting from adventive buds. It adds more leaf area for aesthetic appearance and the production of ecosystem services, particularly in the following seasons.
We repeat to make it clear:
Three generations of needles were present on one tree in late summer. It does not happen when regular rain comes. See the following pictures.
RESISTANCE TO DISEASES AND PESTS
It is generally known that if a tree is in good condition, it is more resistant to diseases and pests. And a tree can only be in good condition if it has enough water.
On our test site, we noticed that there was no bark beetle infestation, despite the infestation in the surrounding forest. Also, some cherry tree diseases avoided our trees, or the damage was significantly lower, compared to the trees in the area.
We do not claim that TREEIB bags are guaranteed to protect trees from all pests and diseases. However, we can say that the bags at our test site significantly contributed to the protection of those trees that were studied.
EXTENSION OF THE ASSIMILATION PERIOD
During the testing of the TREEIB® bags, the period of green foliage was extended on the monitored deciduous trees compared to similar trees.
Unwatered cherry trees within the vicinity of the test site, as of August 2019, already had 90% of foliage red, dry, or fallen, whereas the watered (by test prototypes of the TREEIB® bag) cherry trees had minimal loss. They retained their foliage until the end of October that year.
Prolonging the assimilation time is very important for trees because it enables them to produce more nutrients and store them in their root systems. In the following season, they use them to create new biomass of leaves and branches massively.
The same effects were observed in birches and other deciduous trees.
FRUIT QUALITY
Although the tree production functions are rather a marginal issue, with regards to the TREEIB® methodology, the following should be mentioned.
After we started watering fruit trees, their fruiting abilities and fruit quality increased.
We first started watering cherries when, in 2018, after a long drought, the fruits resembled nothing like they should. The fruit was visibly dry, and it was clear that nothing would last nor ripen at all. After watering, improvements in the vitality of the trees were evident on the first day; drooping leaves at the top of the trees rose within two hours, and within a short period of time, change was also noticeable in the fruits. In the end, all the cherries remained on the trees and, in addition to ripening beautifully, they were not only juicy but also significantly sweeter than in the past.
CONSTRUCTION WORK STRESS REDUCTION
Construction work is causing terrible damage to trees in cities. If the trees are properly cared for, during this work, there's high hope that many will survive the excavation work in the root space, and not just only for one more year, but for decades to come. The biggest drawback, about damage during construction work, is that it tends to only manifest itself a few months, or even years later. This means that often the culprit cannot be identified. It is a real issue, and very often it is alll because a designer/architect, investor or construction company didn't respect the needs of the trees.
Unfortunately, we had to dig in the root of a birch tree, on our test site. It had already been irrigated before the excavation, so it was in good condition, despite having lost roughly 1/4 of the root system near its trunk. The birch was irrigated with TREEIB® irrigation bags - at first once a week, then once every 2-4 weeks until autumn - for a year and a half, until it was relocated. Currently, the tree is not only in very good condition, but also grows well. This gives hope, that the tree, treated in this way, will grow on the test site for a long time to come. Our clients have experienced this situation too. Construction companies, in some cities, are now required to purchase TREEIB.... and as a result they have been successfully protecting their trees.
BETTER STORMWATER INFILTRATION
The test area is sited on clay soils, that have difficulty absorbing water. Especially in times of drought, when the soil surface hardens, it can have a very similar character to the soil in cities. This hardened surface makes it very difficult to absorb water, and when rain comes after a drought, usually in the form of a summer storm, all the water tends to flow away into drains or surrounding meadows.
Soil that is partially moist absorbs water much better, and is capable of reducing the run-off loss, which then serves the trees greatly .
When testing the rate of rainwater penetration into soils of this nature, were shocked at the results: over the space of two days, 40 mm of rain fell on the dry soil. We looked at both grassed and bare (and loose) ground, and although it rained gently, the water barely penetrated the topsoil; the subsoil was completely dry. For those who believe that soils are watered during moderate rains, this should serve as a warning.
It's not true.
Ultimately, we have come to the conclusion that it is best to manually water trees after rain. Rain will do some of the work for us - by saturating the surface layer of the soil, manual watering then will percolate more easily to the roots.
Drip irrigation (TREEIB® irrigation bags work on the drip irrigation principle) overcomes the problem of poor water penetration into solid, dry soil. We observed that the water from the TREEIB® bag, is able to penetrate to a depth of 60 cm within 8 hours, which is fully sufficient for most of the roots that the trees have.
BACKGROUND AND THE TEST SITE
The site description
The test plot is located in the Czech Republic, the humid continental zone (Dfb), Hemiboreal climate, 450 m (1470 feet) above sea level. Twenty-four trees of 10 species grow on 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of land. The age of trees varies from 8 to 80 years. Soil pH ranges from 5,01 to 4,06 in depths of 30 and 60 cm (1 and 2 feet). Heavy clay soil is impoverished in nutrients and usually has a high water table. Download soil analysis results here.
The drought period in Czechia
There was a drought period from 2015 to 2019, with less intensive drought episodes in 2020 and 2021. The total drop in precipitation was, on average, only 20%. But we can see the consequences of the drought today, even after rainy months and episodes. Some species, like Betula Pendula or Sorbus trees, never fully recovered in many places and are vanishing from our landscape. Monocultures of Norway spruce (Picea Abies) were wiped out because of The European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) infestation. The spruce trees on the test plot were threatened, too, because the beetle appeared in a close forest. But because our trees were in good shape, they defended themselves.
Impact on the trees at the site
Needles in the inner crown of spruce trees began falling off the older branch sections, while needles remained on the new shoots. This is a clear sign of drought stress in conifers. Overall, spruce trees lost about 40% of their needles.
The new shoots were very weak, with about 5 centimeters of growth. The growth of new shoots on the fruit trees was significantly reduced. Part of the branches was defoliated, leaf biomass was visibly smaller, and there was little or no fruit or poor quality fruit. Several structural branches in the lower parts of the cherry crown died completely.