I have a 16'Yellowwood that had to leaf out three times 2 years ago, although it had been in the ground about 6 or 7 yrs before that and was established. It is magnificent now, just finishing the best blooms ever. Keep the faith.

As long as she waters it, it should be OK. If it were planted last fall, she SHOULD have been watering it through the summer anyway. You might mention to her that newly planted trees need watering for a year, not just a few months. If it rains, the watering can be adjusted, but it needs the equivalent of an inch of rain per week, in a slow, deep watering. It shouldn't be over watered, but it has to get water from somewhere. Checking to see if the top inch or two of soil is dry will let her know if it needs to be watered or not. She can use a sprinkler, but either using a soaker hose - you can buy 6' sections with a "Y" atttached to loop around the trunk and attach a hoe to it on low so it drips for a few hours - or turning on a hose for a slow trickle and setting it next to the tree for half an hour or so would be better, as it would be more directed and less wasteful of water. A 5-gallon bucket with a few small holes in the bottom could also be used - fill it, set it next to the tree, and let it run out slowly. If it's a biggish tree, use 2 or more buckets.

If it isn't mulched, I would do that also - as widely as possible, as least 3', 4-6' would be better, no deeper than 4", and no mulch in the 2-4" next to the trunk.

Thanks for the five gallon buckets idea.

that might be the perfect solution for her busy shedule, since she works away form the home, at least 60 hours each week. As far as that goes I could even maintian the watering like that.

Maybe two 5 gallon buckets will do the trick for the size of the tree. She also has a Foster holly in her front yard which is barely staying alive because a neighbor's overgrown maple tree seems to hog most of the moisture in the soil. Hopefully that idea will help her Foster Holly tree.

Katrina, my apologies for responding as though you had NO knowledge - button A got punched , and answer A came out in full.

A correction to "with a "Y" atttached to loop around the trunk and attach a hoe to it on low" - it should be HOSE, not hoe. Trust that wasn't too confusing.

For the buckets, it MIGHT be easier to leave the buckets by the tree, and drag the hose over, rather than try to move 2 leaky buckets without filling up your shoes with water - you know the yard and your strengths better than I do. And whether filling your shoes with water might in fact be rather refreshing!

As far as the holly goes, it should work, but the maple roots, having a more established "mass" behind them, so to speak, will probably always have the upper hand there. You/she might do better to move the holly a bit further out, and maybe put something for a root barrier between the maple and the holly. Maple roots can be total water hogs, and I find that the more I water around tree roots, the more the tree roots grow, the more I HAVE to water, the more.....

dibbit, yes I did figure you must have meant to type the word hose.

As for the Maple's roots. I hate to read what you just reported. The neighbor's maple tree in question has roots that have taken over the entire front yard of the house we rent out to my daughter. It is a massive 5 trunked trunked tree, with all the trunks so close together that they first appear to be one huge trunk. I simply hate the tree because its seeds are so viable and its branches are constantly breaking with even the slightest stormy winds. The canopy spreads over half of our front yard, and this summer we intend to hire a tree service with a crane or something to come out and prune off all of the tree's branches which spread over our yard.

I had asked in a different post if doing that along with installing a root barrier would kill the tree, especially if we installed the root barrier just inside and all along our property line. I know it is our legal right to do that, but I got such mixed reviews, I ended up not sure if that would be such a good idea. Maybe we should install the root barrier now, and not shock the tree so much by our first considered plan to wait and install the root barrier at the same time the major pruning job is scheduled to be done in mid August.

With your comments, I am even more convinced that we do need to do that. How wide of a root barrier should be used to fill the correct depth of trench, and how deep of a trench will need to be dug to install the most affective width of root barrier?

Katrina, I am not sure to what depth you will need to go. You might get a better, more directed response if you post as a separate question - with all the tree mavins around, someone must know how deep. My first thought is to say at least 2', but whether or not you need to go deeper? I dunno, although my inclination is to say not, and that 2' may even be overkill - most feeder roots are in the top 12-15" of the soil, after all. And I can't say whether a solid barrier, like the heavy plastic used for bamboo, or a compost or mulch-filled trench, that you dig into on a monthly basis to cut off any new roots, would be the best option. Something else altogether might prove better. I could see using the metal panels for roofing, but there would be the gap where they overlapped, so a single roll of really heavy plastic might be best, or combining the two, for more certainty....

If you cut back the root system, then the tree won't have the reserves to grow replacements for the limbs you cut off as quickly or as fully. I think whether you do it now, or wait 'til fall is somewhat irrelevant - I would probably do it as you have time, once you have decided on a method. One reason to wait, though, would be if you are going to have heavy equipment come into your front yard, and if it might damage the barrier, whatever you do decide on. For that reason, doing both together, or the barrier after the tree trimming, might be the easier option.

I don't know what the boundary between the properties looks like, and can't remember the photos from the earlier posting, so may be out of line - but could you "cede" a few feet on your side of the line to the tree roots, just mulching it? It would make it clear to your neighbor that your aren't really trying to kill his tree. (Well, maybe you ARE, but not too obviously!!) It would mean you can't or don't plant there, but it might not be too big an area, where not much would grow anyway, and would make it clear that you are "respecting" his boundaries. I don't know your relationship with this neighbor, but I would always prefer to err on the side on conciliation, until I can't any longer, of course....