How do you protect your trees against summer heatwaves?

[Shogun610]

Spruces and Larch I water 2x per day along with deciduous of its above 85F. Pines are usually Ok to water 1x or even every other day spending if it’s not above 85z sometimes I water the containers too to cool down , some mornings there are a lot of morning mist which keeps the soil moist. Shade net holds spruce , beech , hornbeam of above 85F, along w accent plants. White t shirts go on larches , pines and spruce if still in black containers used to hold collected trees. I feel like 85F is my upper limit for increased watering and shade protection, other than that I water in evening, morning sun w dappled shade until 8 -9 and by 4, everything is shaded by the house. Stuff in shade net gets nothing sun until 11 am ..

 

[arreaux]

When it's over 100° I can turn on my overhead Foggit nozzles for few seconds via my phone, It's just a little to help cool things down a bit.

 

[DavidBoren]

Only the strong survive.

 

[Godschick]

It’s has been over 100 for a couple months and we still have about two more to go. My trees are on a balcony in the city, so a bit challenging. I give them partial shade provided by double reed walls on the west side to protect them from the blazing afternoon sun. I have my maples, ginkgos and azaleas under a bench that only gets a little morning sun. I also have a partial shade cloth overhead. The junipers and pines get mostly sun, with a little protection late afternoon at its hottest. I water around noon, heavily each day. Knowing the summer conditions here, I did add a little organic in my inorganic mix to retain moisture. This is my first California Central Valley summer and my trees are healthy and have amazing growth.

 

[Gabler]

I have some fairly water-hungry tree species…

I believe the word you’re looking for is “thirsty.”

 

[bbk]

Water

 

[PieterVE]

- water 2 or 3 times, can be misting in the early morning before the sun hits, like today
- extra shade netting now its 95F or 35°C
- wet towels on some pots that aren't protected by the shade netting
- doing a rain dance this weekend as we're now almost 2 months with a lot of sun and almost no rain to speak of so all the plants, shrubs and trees in the garden are burnt and the grass is brown and even black roasted... Trees are losing their leaves already like it's autumn...

 

[leatherback]

arighty..

 

[bbk]

- water 2 or 3 times, can be misting in the early morning before the sun hits, like today
- extra shade netting now its 95F or 35°C
- wet towels on some pots that aren't protected by the shade netting
- doing a rain dance this weekend as we're now almost 2 months with a lot of sun and almost no rain to speak of so all the plants, shrubs and trees in the garden are burnt and the grass is brown and even black roasted... Trees are losing their leaves already like it's autumn...

Welcome to Australia mate.

 

[Tele]

It has been crazy hot here. I have used aluminium foil on the part of the pots with sun. Also spray every 2 hours more for cooling then watering.
Here in Zaragoza (Spain) we had 40C+, 105F+ mostly. Few burned leaves but quite ok.

 

[Katie0317]

My husband built this for our orchids. He put sliding doors on the front and it has a full size stainless steel sink and counter inside...A great add on for working with both bonsai and orchids. We put our trident maple inside to get filtered light. It has a bamboo roof so the rain gets through. Am going to do a thread that shows it in detail when it's finished.

We live in the semi-tropics and it rains almost every afternoon but pots left in open sun get way too hot for most bonsai trees. We have mostly tropicals. They're under a shade sail right now with a few exceptions. Her

 

[rustygarden]

Nothing wrong with light beer, I prefer not having to chew my beer.

That’s the best kind of beer . Stouts and porters . Haha

 

[HENDO]

A little bit of shade cloth around the pots helps beat the Houston heatwaves:

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

90 and above move sensitive trees into only early morning sun on the north side of the house

Heat tolerant trees, partial shade and cluster on open slat benches

Most often spray the trees as and wet the ground underneath….

Over 100 sensitive trees full shade. Heat tolerant trees move to the same spot the sensitive trees were out at above 90.

Most more. Wet ground.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Carol 83]

That’s the best kind of beer . Stouts and porters . Haha

 

[Firstflush]

When your trees are sensitive, do they respond better to a soft soothing voice?

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

When your trees are sensitive, do they respond better to a soft soothing voice?

…actually these trees enjoy 50’s music on the warmest of days…

cheers
DSD sends

 

[Firstflush]

Yes!

 

[Weaponman]

Hi All,

In another thread there was a suggestion I should do a video on summer protection of trees. I was wondering: What tricks/tips do you have to deal with hot/dry weather in summer.
(And do you have pictures or would you be willing to share a few secs of video showing setups you have in place?).
Over the weekend I might compile a video on this topic.

J.

30-50% Shade cloth and afternoon irrigation

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Just brainstorming off the top of my head..

Choose species that are appropriate to microclimate (and can handle new temperature surges)

Proper placement - species dependent - trees may need to migrate in microclimate

Vary fertilization with normal and unusual temperature surges - species dependent

Learn to monitor media for moisture - types and tree dependent

Misting species dependent - back down watering as appropriate

Add shade cloth if needed in the local microclimate

Pruning variation with temperatures surges

…Avoid drastic techniques during hot weather

Cheers
DSD sends