Autumn water reminder for your trees!

Volunteers learn how to prune this autumn with the support of Montana Urban Community Forest Association - even though the tree has lost its leaves it is still warm enough to water! 

This is a friendly reminder to keep deep watering until the ground freezes and even if your tree has no leaves.

Autumn temps have been warm this season and your young tree could benefit from a big drink of water.

Insufficient watering is one of the most common causes of stunting tree growth, mortality and can be costly when it comes to maintenance or tree replacement.

Some news to share, Livingston Loves Trees Trees hosted a pruning workshop in October to prepare for maintenance season along with the Montana Urban Community Forest Association (MUCFA).

Watch the pruning workshop Instagram Reel or Facebook Post.

To continue to support our volunteers and urban forest, we have proudly joined the MUCFA to develop our partnerships, access resources and share in learnings across the state. They recently trained our volunteers and City of Livingston public works staff during two workshops held this year.

Trained volunteers have been making their way around town, helping establish leaders on trees and will start to do more heavy pruning once the weather gets colder. Say "hi" if you see them visiting your tree. If you would like to join the pruning volunteers, please reach out!

As always we encourage you to share your tree photos, updates, or resources you have found helpful along your tree journey.

Let us know how you have been inspired by the beautiful trees that surround you and how we can continue to support the program! And keep reading to find more resources we updated our webpage recently.

If you want someone to come look at your tree, please send me an email and we can send a tree nurse to speak with you.

In addition, if you have any physical samples of insect or disease, they can be brought to the MSU Extension office in Park county - they offer free diagnostics through our partner lab on campus - thank you Jackie!

There are many more MT specific resources here at MUCFA's site, and especially interesting is the trees in the Wildland Urban Interface WUI. 

Livingston Loves Trees baby maple trees showing off their colors

Watering Guidelines

Your tree needs 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter per week. 

Rain does not penetrate deep enough to establish roots, so ignore it. The best time to water your tree is in the morning or evening, when there’s minimal evaporation.

How do you know how long to water your tree with a hose?

Time how long it takes for your hose to fill a 5 gallon bucket while on low flow. Then you can leave your hose running at the base of your tree for however long it takes to reach the desired amount of water for your tree based on its diameter. This time will vary from person to person, and what works for your neighbor's tree might not be adequate for your tree.

Don’t have time to water, or planning on leaving town?

If you’re unable to regularly meet your tree's watering needs, ask a friend or set a backup! Consider asking a neighbor to water your tree, or investing in a slow-release watering bag. A 20 gal. reusable tree watering bags range from $15-25 and can be found at local hardware and landscape stores, or online. Just one week without water can be very harmful to your tree, especially in the summer heat.

Visit our Livingston Loves Trees Resource Library for more guides and tips on tree maintenance.