For Immediate Release:

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

How to Drought proof your property
Living in a desert environment is all about understanding water and soil. More precisely it’s about lack of water and lack of soil. The two go hand in hand. Many folks in Malibu and most of California are living in a desert environment where everything has evolved over the millions of years to survive in this type of environment. When humans started to build cities in this area, they first lived with what was already here. This soon gave way to folks bringing in plants that are not native to this area, and we are now at the point where most things we grow are not native to this area.
Many homeowners and many cities have not adequately added topsoil when they plant, instead choosing to plant directly in the current “soil” that they find. Someplace have soil because of the mountains and rains washing down and building up in certain places.
Malibu has a few such places where they have rich topsoil or rather had. Topsoil needs to be added on a regular base since it gets destroyed or removed by either human or natural forces. One of the factors involving topsoil is that once you plant, it is impossible to remove everything to add more topsoil. So you need to add slowly and on a regular base.
So the addition of topsoil has to be done in a specific manner over the year(s). As you lose more and more topsoil, water has no place to go but either through evaporation or it goes straight down (if you’re lucky). Most are lost through evaporation and never reaches the root system of trees and other deep-rooted plants.
So proper watering is an important issue when it comes to maintaining a healthy property. Many folks overwater with the idea that the hotter it gets, the more water you need to counteract it. This is incorrect and only leads to dead trees. Many folks also are mistaken when they are told to conserve water by rationing. Rationing does not mean not to water your trees!
When your tree(s) die, you lose a significant source of protection to your property. This opens up your property to wind and fire damages.
Trees also provide shade and in turn help to protect the soil.
The key to helping your trees and in turn your property is topsoil and proper watering.
With topsoil, any deep watering will be absorbed by the topsoil and slowly released back to the plants and surrounding area. No topsoil, everything will dry out faster, and you will see heat damage sooner.
So the key here is to change over to subsurface irrigation and to keep the water below ground. Any above ground watering will lose up to 75% through evaporation.
Then you must also add compost and the proper mulch to protect the soil from the heat of the sun. I say proper mulch because wood chips are not the proper mulch to use and is a fire hazard. I always recommend azalea/gardenia mix because this is a soil made from earthworm castings and shredded tree bark. This will not burn while providing protection and nutrition.
Many folks believe that just watering the lawn every day also takes care of watering the trees. While it is true that trees, in general, can survive in nature without someone watering them, they rely on the underground streams of water. These have been drained by farmers overuse and therefore is not available to them.
The best way to save water and in turn your trees is to keep the water below ground. The whole property should be watered via subsurface irrigation including the lawn. The latest subsurface irrigation is guaranteed for ten years, so they work well now.
You should have the trees on their own timer program since they have entirely different watering requirements (once a month in most cases) than say your lawn or roses or even fruit trees. Your fruit trees should have their own timer program also (twice a month in most cases).
The idea that everything gets the same watering is not correct. You need to set up the timer so that each different type of plants get what they need and not more or less. Gardener’s in general over-water everything. This leads to more pests and diseases and will destroy and eventually kill off your trees.
What you should be doing now during this winter(?) is first to replace all of your overhead watering with subsurface irrigation. Try RainBird as they have the best on the market. Place the system you have now and then apply rock dust, live compost and then mulch over it. The fire department is not worried about proper compost and proper mulch applications. They do not want wood chips applied as mulch! Wood chips do nothing to help the soil. They do not break down but instead when you add water then heat it up; you have a cardboard layer that nothing will pass through not even water. Your plants will show signs of getting burned because of the heat and Santa Anna winds but their root systems will survive and with proper pruning, and proper nutrition, the trees will return.
Proper nutrition is also an essential key to both the tree and the soil health. Chemical fertilizers only damage the soil and increase the tree stress levels providing a perfect place for diseases and pests to spread.
Foliar sprayings of your entire property will provide your plants with essential nutrients along with the proper microbial life needed by the soil and plants. The air is becoming more and more toxic, and this will eventually also damage your trees.
So controlling water, keeping your soil alive and providing proper nutrition are keys to a healthy property and healthy trees. Over-watering and more chemicals are not the answer. It is never too late to make the changes.
Any questions?
andy Lopez
Invisible Gardener
Please leave in coment below and I will answer back asap!