We recently planted roughly 60 trees on May 2nd around our man-made pond. These are a mix of hardwoods and evergreens. Now that it's gotten so hot, these trees look really stressed. We have been watering them once a week. We have put roughly 15 gallon on each of these over the last 2 weeks. (once a week) Can we overwater? Some of these trees were 3-4 inches in diameter (hardwoods) and the blue spruce are 6 feet tall. The nursery planted these without putting any new black dirt in the holes and thee are mostly in a clay based soil. Are these trees doomed from the get-go? How can we save them? Will they look better as they establish?

HI Kathy, With that many trees I'm sure it is distressing for you. It is possible to overwater trees. rule of thumb is a 1 gallon per diameter inch. also with transplanted trees they can look pretty sad in hot weather even if there is water since they have a reduced root system and may not be able to take up water fast enough to replace what they are losing. I would suggest mulching the trees with wood mulch, continuing to water whenever the soil feels dry. You may have to check by digging down a bit. may need water every day in hot weather especially if these were container grown trees. the rec is to use exisiting soil and not use black soil when planting. just check the branches and see if they are still green inside. if they are there is certainly the possiblity they will start to look better. good luck, sandy