Vent: That time I overwatered a client's oak tree for 6 weeks straight

I took on a new property last spring up in Portland, a big old valley oak that looked a bit sad. I figured it was thirsty since we had a dry spell, so I set up a drip line and let it run every other day for about 6 weeks. Turns out the tree had root rot from some bad drainage in the clay soil. The leaves started yellowing and dropping, and the client was not happy. I had to dig up the root flare, cut out a bunch of rotten roots, and apologize. Learned to actually check the soil moisture with a probe before I flood a tree. Has anyone else made a similar mistake with watering?

2 comments

2 Comments

robert_bennett291d ago

Ha! Yeah I did basically the same thing with a client's Japanese maple last year. Thought I was being proactive watering during a dry July. Ended up drowning the poor thing for a whole month before I figured it out. Root rot is no joke when you're the one who caused it.

elliot_harris2523h ago

My buddy @robert_bennett29 actually did the same thing with a weeping cherry tree last spring. He thought he was being careful watering it like every other day for two months straight. The leaves started turning yellow and dropping like crazy and he was so confused until someone told him to check the roots. They were basically mush and the whole tree died by August. He still brings it up whenever someone mentions overwatering.