In years past, we propped the thin branches of our peach tree to prevent the fat balls of juicy fruit from snapping them. This year, what with the lack of rain, the thick thatch of grass around its base and our surfeit of neglect, we have only shriveled little hairy things growing, roughly the size of a dinosaur brain.
This year may be lost, but in the hopes of saving our tree for next year, we took Nancy Merrill’s advice, excavated the grass from around the base of the tree, and ran a sprinkler over the exposed soil for a good hour or so. The ground gulped, and perhaps our tree is saved.
If you’ve got a tree, Nancy Merrill and Cathy Tuttle have put together a tree watering FAQ to help you save your tree, before it suffers the fate ours did. If everyone pitches in, Nancy won’t have to drag her little red wagon of buckets around the neighborhood anymore.