Helping Our Trees Survive
Exceptional Drought
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As we press forward into California's second dry year in a row, Governor Newsom has officially declared that California and the Sacramento Valley are in a drought. What does this mean for Yolo County's trees?
Drought strongly impacts our urban canopy’s health and resilience. After the 2012-2016 drought, many already stressed and aging trees died. There is a common misconception that drought conditions mean that residents should not water their trees. Tree Davis is here to set the record straight - during a drought it is more important than ever to water your trees!
With this in mind, the Tree Davis team has been hard at work, visiting trees in public spaces to ensure that we are protecting our shared investment in our public shade resources - trees in our parks, greenbelts and right of ways. Tree Davis staff brave the heat several times per week in order to water and care for trees in public spaces! Look for us along the Russell Blvd bike path, the Putah Creek Parkway, Barovetto Park, and many other public spots where trees need hand watering to make it through this record setting, hot, dry summer. Even with our help, our trees face an uphill battle this summer. We're doing our best to look out for the trees. Take a look below at our impressive stewardship record to see what we have been up to so far in 2021:
1,015 stewardship visits completed - these include monitoring, watering, mulching, pruning and weeding.
- 725 Watering visits
- 290 Mulching visits
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What can YOU do to help trees?
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What can you do to help make sure your trees thrive through the drought and beyond? It bears repeating - the most important thing you can do to protect the cooling benefits of trees in our urban landscapes is to continue watering trees through the drought. The cost of watering trees is equivalent to just a few extra toilet flushes a week, and the ecological, social and economic returns on this small investment are enormous. Follow the below steps to help your tree survive the drought:
- Mature trees need monthly watering in the summer and when it’s not raining. Water should be applied under the canopy's drip line when possible. Trees should be watered so that the soil is saturated.
- Water early in the morning or after the sun has set, as this is when trees replace the water they’ve lost during the day. This also helps reduce water loss to evaporation.
- Conserve and recycle water from inside and outside the home. Learn more about watering with greywater here (thanks to our partners at Cool Davis!).
- Inside: place buckets in the shower to collect “warm up” water and use it on trees. Recycle water from the dehumidifier, collect air conditioning condensation and “save a flush” to conserve water.
- Outside: Convert irrigation systems to drip, low flow or micro spray and fix leaks.
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Big Day of Giving Success
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The Tree Davis team extends immense gratitude to all of our donors who helped us exceed our goal for Big Day of Giving. Together, we were able to raise over $13,600!
We would especially like to thank our Board of Directors, our anonymous matching grant sponsor and our amazing community of individual donors. Without you, we would not be able to bring our forward-thinking services to our community to enhance and expand the urban forest.
Thank you to all of our staff and volunteers who also continue to invest their passion and commitment in our mission and impact throughout the year.
We're so grateful to be working as a team to plant trees and grow community!
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Join us this summer for one of our volunteer events! We have tree stewardship events lined up at a park or open space near you!
This is an excellent opportunity to join your neighbors and friends in caring for our cherished trees. During this drought year, trees need all of the mulch, water and care they can get. Join in the fun and help protect a tree!
Check out the flyer below for an opportunity to steward trees in the Mace Ranch Open Space area on July 10th! We hope you'll join us!
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Keep an eye out for more volunteer opportunities and activities coming up. Make sure to check out our website volunteer event calendar.
If you would like to register for the Mace Ranch Tree Care Event or sign up for any other upcoming events, you can register here: https://www.treedavis.org/volunteer/
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Please donate to support our mission!
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Click below to donate online or you can send a check to:
Tree Davis
P.O. Box 72053
Davis, CA, 95617
Thank you for helping us plant trees and grow community!
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