Many of you have already or are preparing to blow out your sprinkler systems. I just wanted to remind you to give your trees a good drink while you're out doing your fall chores. While the top growth is done for the season, their roots are still growing and will until ground freeze. It's been a long time since we've had moisture and some trees are still recovering from the flash freeze in 2014. They'll do better going into the cold weather after a good soaking.

If you have young, thin barked trees, apply tree wrap soon to prevent frost cracking and sunscald. They'll need this for several years until the bark toughens up enough to handle our climate.

From the CSU extension:

Tree and Shrubs

Shorter days and falling temperatures are prompting deciduous trees and shrubs to drop leaves and prepare for winter dormancy. Limit fertilization in fall, as nitrogen stimulates useless late-season growth and delays dormancy.

Do continue to water trees and shrubs through fall, sending them into winter with ample moisture. It also will be necessary to apply water every three to four weeks throughout the winter. Dry soil kills roots and puts stress on trees and shrubs. Water when temperatures are above freezing and when the soil is not frozen. Apply water early in the day so plants will have time to absorb moisture before soil might freeze at night.

By the first of November, wrap trunks of your deciduous trees with crepe-paper tree wrap. Begin at the base of the tree and wrap upward, overlapping about a third of the paper with each turn. Stop when you reach the first set of branches. Secure the top turn of the wrap with a piece of stretch tape. Wrapping trees and shrubs prevents sunscald injury, a conditions that develops when the warm winter sun is absorbed by the plant's bark. Remove wrap next April.

Barb