Old timer in Portland told me to stop watering my oak trees in summer

He said deep watering in July actually rots the roots and brings fungus. I tried skipping water on my two big oaks last August and they looked healthier by October than they had in 5 years. Anyone else been told to lay off summer watering on established oaks?

2 comments

2 Comments

troymorgan24d ago

Right, because trees are just like houseplants that need a sip of water every time you walk past. Nothing says "trust the locals" like seeing your oaks throw a little party when you neglect them.

seth_allen23d ago

You mentioned "trust the locals" and I get that, but honestly I've seen plenty of locals kill their trees through neglect too. Just because someone has lived somewhere their whole life doesn't mean they know proper tree care. I've helped take down way too many oaks that died because people thought "they're native, they'll handle themselves." Natives still need water during droughts, especially first few years after planting. And that "party" you're talking about is usually stress signals like early leaf drop or branch dieback. There's a middle ground between drowning a tree and ignoring it completely.