First-year watering and care

Water the root ball

For the first year, the tree's roots are still inside the original root ball, and that ball dries out faster than the soil around it. Aim the water at the ball, not the lawn.

• Water slowly and deeply. A hose on a slow trickle at the base for 20 to 30 minutes, or a soaker hose looped around the ball, does it.
• One deep soak beats several light sprinkles. Shallow watering keeps roots near the surface.

How often

• First two weeks: every two to three days.
• Rest of the first summer: once a week, twice in hot, dry or windy weeks.
• After a good rain of 2 to 3 cm (about 1 in): skip that week.

Check before you water. Push a trowel or screwdriver 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) into the root ball. If it's dry, water. If it's moist, wait a few days. If it's soggy, hold off. In heavy clay, too much water drowns roots just as surely as drought.

Keep watering into fall

Don't stop when summer ends. Water every week or two through September and October, and give the tree one last deep soak just before the ground freezes. A spruce that goes into winter with a wet root ball is far less likely to brown.

Winter burn

Winter burn is the brown, scorched needles that show up in spring. On sunny, windy winter days the needles keep losing water while the roots are frozen and can't replace it. Fall watering is the main protection.

On an exposed site, set up a burlap screen on stakes for the first winter, on the sides facing the afternoon sun and the prevailing wind, usually the south and west. Don't wrap the tree itself.

Mulch, and no fertilizer

• Keep 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) of wood-chip mulch over the root area, topped up as it breaks down, and 10 cm (4 in) clear of the trunk.
• Skip fertilizer in the first year. The tree needs to grow roots, not top growth.

What's normal

• Some yellowing and dropping of older needles inside the tree is normal transplant stress.
• Slow growth for the first year or two is normal while the roots re-establish.
• If new growth at the branch tips wilts or turns brown, check the root ball's moisture first.

Years two and three

Water deeply every two to three weeks in dry spells, and give a deep soak in fall before freeze-up. Take off any guy wires after the first year. By the third year most trees are established and only need water in a drought. Call (250) 789-3340 if a tree doesn't look right.