The heat that can come with the month of July can undo all your hard gardening work from the spring. You water everything, it looks spectacular, and then the sun comes in and bakes everything. By the next morning, the soil is crumbly and dry, looks neglected, and your plants are no better than when they started. The problem isn’t lack of trying, that’s for sure. is the method you use.
Most surface watering, no matter how good your intentions, never gets deep enough to give your trees and shrubs what they really need. If you’ve wondered why your trees seem stressed despite watering them regularly in the summer, the answer probably isn’t what you’re not doing, but where the water is going (and not). If you’re looking for a wider look at getting the most from watering your garden, check out our guide watering the garden before you continue reading.
Why shallow watering is quietly sabotaging your trees
Corona Tools Rootirrigator
When you go for yours watering trees Routinely, two things happen when it lands on the surface: some of it evaporates immediately, and the rest encourages the roots to grow upward toward the moisture rather than downward toward the earth. After a period of time, this will create a shallow, surface-level root system that will be very vulnerable to drought, heat stress and wind. The tree may look well established from the outside, but inside, the roots are camped just below the surface and are very dependent on the next watering from you.
The deep roots, however, make the trees extremely resilient to whatever Mother Nature throws at them. When roots grow down (about 1-2 feet into the soil) they access moisture reserves that surface heat cannot reach. It also helps them stay anchored when it’s really windy and will help keep them up droughts without needing constant watering from you. Essentially, the goal of summer watering isn’t just to keep the tree alive—you’re training it to take care of itself.
The tool that changes the way you water
Corona Tools Rootirrigator
THE Corona Tools LG 3710 RootIRRIGATOR (Available on Amazon) is a 46-inch deep watering sensor designed to do exactly one thing: deliver water directly to your roots, bypassing the surface entirely. It’s super easy to use as you can hook it up to any standard garden hose, insert the probe into the soil near the base of the plant and have the water flow straight down to where the roots actually live.
It has 3 depth indicators at 12, 18 and 24 inches that take the guesswork out of how deep you are watering. For watering newly planted trees12 inches is usually enough, while established trees need watering at the 18 to 24 inch mark where feeder roots they are more active.
There’s a detachable 3-inch brass shut-off valve that gives you precise control over the flow rate, so you can slow it down instantly and let the water soak in gradually instead of rushing compacted soil. Plus, the ComfortGEL handle makes it much easier to use than it sounds. This means no blisters, no tired hands, even on hard or rocky terrain.
What it works on and how to use it
RootIRRIGATOR is most valuable for:
Trees: Both newly planted and long-standing. New trees need a deep watering every few days during their first summer, while established trees benefit more from a slow, deep session once a week during heat waves rather than a bunch of shallow sprinklings.
Shrubs: Especially the large, deep-rooted varieties such as hydrangeas, rosesand viburnum which tend to struggle when only the surface remains wet.
Compacted or clay soil: Where surface water tends to run off before it can penetrate, the probe delivers water directly past this extremely hard layer to where the soil is easiest to penetrate.
The technique is fairly simple: Place the probe about 6 to 8 inches from the trunk. It is a common mistake to insert the probe at the base of the tree, but the feeder roots actually extend outward, not straight down.
Slowly open the valve and let the water flow for 30 seconds to 1 minute per entry point. Move the probe to about 2 or 3 different locations around the tree’s drip line (this is the outer edge of the canopy where root uptake is most active) for the most coverage. If working in clay soil, insert and remove the probe slowly to avoid compaction of the surrounding soil.
Corona Tools Rootirrigator
A bonus use that most people miss
The RootIRRIGATOR has a dual function as it also acts as a spreading tool for fertilizer. Liquid fertilizers can be applied directly through the catheter to the root zone, where uptake is much more efficient than simple surface application.
It is especially useful for trees that show signs iron deficiency or to give a boost to newly planted in their first season. It may seem like a small detail, but it makes an already useful tool even more versatile.
If you’re constantly watering your trees and wondering why they still look like they’re dying in July, this is probably the missing piece of the puzzle you’ve been looking for.
