The first five years of a tree’s life are critical to its health in the long term.
Good watering, pruning and other forms of sapling tree care will lead to a healthy, mature tree as well as cutting down future maintenance costs.
Our ongoing care must make sure that the trees we lovingly planted will flourish over the next crucial five years!
Proper watering is vital for newly planted and sapling trees so that sufficient moisture and oxygen is delivered to the roots.
Young trees in the first year should be deeply watered every day for the first two weeks after planting. Deep watering helps prevent weak surface roots from forming and encourages the growth of robust underground roots. Following that, a new tree needs watering once a week for the first year whilst it is still in leaf and every other week after that.
In the second year, trees need water every two to four weeks during dry periods. Otherwise, the tree will seek out its own moisture sources deeper underground. This will help to form a resilient tree. Shallow watering leads to shallow roots and water dependency. Deeper, infrequent watering helps to create resilient trees.
During years three to five, watering at least once per month is ideal, with a good soaking with 150 littres of water. When the tree gets to three to five years old it should be fully established and will only need occasional deep watering, particularly during very dry periods.
If it rains, that counts as a day’s watering. But if it is particularly hot and dry, as it often happens in Greek summers, extra watering is needed. The soil must be moist but not wet.
It is crucial to look out for symptoms of drought stress amongst the sapling trees such as yellowing or wilting leaves or leaves that are browning or curling at the edges. This is a sign that the tree isn’t receiving sufficient water.
Trees need nutrients to grow, as we all do! The fertiliser contains minor trace elements such as magnesium and manganese plus nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium as some trees rely on these for growth and good health, shown on their leaf colour.
We choose a slow release fertiliser that delivers vital nutrients to the tree in a balanced way over time. The aim is to buoy the tree’s growth, so feed during the spring will help support new flushes of leaves. Leaf growth is very nutrient demanding, so a general purpose fertiliser applied in May and early June will help.
