Drought Stressed Trees
odompe@mail.ci.tlh.fl.us
Thu, 25 Jun 1998 08:18:44 -0500
As ya'll may have heard Florida is having the worst drought in over 50 years. Trees are dying every where but especially here in N. Florida. As the Utility Arborist for the Tallahassee Electric Dept. I am responsible for maintaining proper clearance between the trees and the power lines. We recently received a suggestion from one of our customers that our trimming is further stressing the trees and she wants us to water each tree we trim. Based on the average number of trees we trim each day (425) it would take 70 hrs. each day to water the trees, spending 10 minutes on each tree. My question is by trimming the trees are we not technically decreasing the evapotranspiration thereby reducing the drought stress on the trees?