"I am keeping my flowers watered each night but finally looked up at the branches of my beautiful 5-year-old red maple and felt like a guilty neglectful parent," Holly writes to me.
"More than half of it's leaves were crinkled from not enough water! I am in a frenzy each day now to give it a good long drink and I hope it isn't too late to save it! "
It was a wake-up call for me, too. And I am putting the Tree Gator back on my 2-year-old maple. Filling the 20-gallon bag once a week allows the slow watering the tree will need to get it through this summer.
Experts recommend about 5 gallons of water three or four times a month, and your sprinkler isn't going to get this done.
This Website has other watering information for young trees, too.
And so does The Philadelphia Flower Show blog.