Shoutout to the old timer who told me to stop babying young maples

I planted 12 red maples last spring and this guy at the nursery told me to cut back on water after the first month. I thought he was nuts, trees need water right? Well I kept soaking them and three of them got root rot by August. Lost about $400 worth of trees and had to replant. Now I'm following his advice on the survivors and they look way better this season. Anyone else get burned by overwatering young trees or am I the only one who made that mistake?

2 comments

2 Comments

joel_mason2210d ago

Same thing happened to me with some oaks. Nurseries baby them so hard you think they need constant water. Once they're in the ground they gotta toughen up. Let them find their own water.

henrys7410d ago

Haha yeah, it's like they grow up in a bubble at the nursery and then get thrown into the real world. I've noticed that with people too honestly. Kids get so much structure and hand-holding in school or at home, then they hit their first job or adult responsibility and it's like they've never had to figure anything out on their own. A little bit of struggling early on builds that toughness.