Marianne's Response
Watering mature shrubs
I have a mature shrub bed with large rocks for mulch. When I planted it, the plants were 1 gallon in size. Now the shrubs are anywhere from 5 feet tall/wide to 15 feet tall/10 wide. The roots can be anywhere. My dinky 1/8″ drips will be useless. How do I tell where the roots are so I can do drips at each of 4 corners of each shrub/tree or is there a better way? My shrubs are smokebush (cotinus), 2 weigelas (red prince), 2 dogwood bushes, nashiki willow, tamarisk tree, and a rock daphne.
Posted by dale kerr on December 18, 2014
Marianne's Response
I may have some good news for you. If your shrubs have grown well there is no need to add more drips to give them more water. The shrubs you listed are all very drought tolerant and their roots will be deep enough to get moisture they need even if you continue using your dinky 1/8 inch drips. Many shrubs and trees have problems with being watered too much, especially when they are mature and established like it sounds like yours are.
Keep growing,
Marianne Binetti
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