Wisconsin drought; water newly-planted trees, saplings | FOX6 News Milwaukee

[00:00:00]And sure, there's a couple clouds up there, but there's not a single rain cloud in the sky. So, why should today be any different than the last, oh, I don't know, 10 days or so?

[00:00:11]Um, and if you're like me, your lawn is a shade of khaki that is usually only in style for a couple weeks a year. My lawn is crunch crunchy and khaki. But, you know what? Our trees might not be much better, which is why we have asked Aaron Stoll to call the Forestry Services Manager for the city of Milwaukee to join us, and we're very appreciative of your time, Aaron. Um, tell us how this lack of rain and this heat and this humidity and even the wildfires, how are they affecting our trees?

[00:00:47]>> Thank you for the question. I mean, we obviously are thinking about this every day, day in and out, um, being our managing of the Forestry Department and the all the trees that we plant along the street and in the boulevards. Um, and what new trees need more than almost anything else is plenty of water. So, um, whenever a new tree is planted, they go through a period of what we call transplant shock, um, meaning they have to overcome the fact that they were just, you know, dug out of a hole and put into a new one. And in order to keep the roots alive and the tree to thrive and establish wherever we plant them, we rely on residents to help water these trees. Um, so it's a great time to talk about it because whether you have a new tree that you just planted on your property or it's a street tree planted between the sidewalk and the curb, they're really depending on us for water in periods like this.

[00:01:35]>> Let's talk about the sidewalk and the curb area first, then we'll get to people's personal plants.

[00:01:39]Um, I think a lot of people assume, "Oh, the city's got this. They're the ones who put it there."

[00:01:43]Um, and I should probably They probably think they're doing you a favor by leaving it alone. But, you're saying, "No, no, no, no, no. It's okay. You go ahead and water it if it's adjacent to your property." You're giving people carte blanche to water it. If so, how much?

[00:01:56]>> So, a good rule of thumb is about 5 to 10 gallons of water a week, but during periods of drought like this, that could even increase to twice a week. So, think like a 5-gallon bucket. Um but the best way to really kind of measure even if you need water or not is if you're willing to get your hand a little dirty, stick it in the dirt. Is it moist or is it bone dry? If it's dry, we need a little more water. But um as a general of thumb, yeah, like a 5-gallon bucket at least once a week, 5 to 10 gallons will help get these trees through.

[00:02:24]>> But not all at once, right? Sprinkle it out if you can or >> Yeah, slowly as possible. So, you know, if you're pouring water on dry soil, it's just going to run off. So, if you can have like a slow trickle or slowly just kind of saturate the soil around the tree, that's best.

[00:02:37]>> Talking about young trees, I'm trying to to grow a small pine tree in my backyard and I'm just I'm watering it and watering it and watering it and it's it's a fledgling little thing and I I worry about overwatering. How do I know if I'm overwatering?

[00:02:49]>> So, again, I would say it's a good rule of thumb would be to be willing to get your hands a little dirty. If it's just like completely saturated, soaked soil, that's too much. You might be free You might be watering too frequently. Um it's just being engaged with the environment around the tree. Planting a tree is an investment um that you have to um protect with your own efforts. So, just visiting it a couple times a week, checking the soil. Is it soaked? Is it Is there like standing water? That's too much. But if the soil is moist and kind of evenly saturated, that's what we're looking for.

[00:03:20]>> A popular phrase uh these days is get outside and touch grass. It's sort of the metaphor >> Right.

[00:03:25]>> for get away from the get away from the digital world. You're telling us to touch dirt literally and feel I mean, look, I I'm not an arborist, but I can tell dry dirt from wet dirt and that's all you're asking us to do.

[00:03:35]>> That's pretty much it. Yeah.

[00:03:36][clears throat] >> What about mature trees? Um for example, I'm going to speak from experience here.

[00:03:41]I have a pear tree in my backyard which I adore um and the the fruit seems incredibly small this year at this stage where it's been bigger. Could that be the effect of of lack of water?

[00:03:54]>> I mean that that could certainly be an impact for it. So, whenever a tree is stressed and we've had irregular rainfall throughout the year, had a kind of a dry spring and then rain in June and then the drought now, um that affects the tree's ability to allocate resources to its full capacity. So, if it's if it's dealing with the stress of having a drought, it won't necessarily be able to allocate as much resources to fruit production maybe. Um so, it definitely could be a factor.

[00:04:19]>> Did the the smog that we had and I I don't even want to call it smog, the smog from Canadian wildfires, does that affect trees? I Well, it almost seems like that's a silly question, but but it but does it?

[00:04:30]>> I you know, I think that's probably a question we're going to have to explore more as it becomes I I don't want to call it a new normal, but um air quality is going to affect every living thing.

[00:04:39]The full impact of how it affects trees, um I would say is a little uncertain at this point, but the good news is that the trees are there to help clean the air for us. So, they take in the carbon dioxide, right, to give us clean oxygen.

[00:04:51]So, we need them there more than ever.

[00:04:54]>> What is the state of the trees in the city of Milwaukee right now? I know you've dealt with a lot of thing, Dutch elm, uh Asian beetles, uh ash borers over the years. What's the current state of Milwaukee's tree civilization?

[00:05:11]>> I like calling it a civilization. Um I I would say we're in good shape right now.

[00:05:14]There's no like, you know, there is always I guess I should say there's always like some concern. We are always monitoring for pests or diseases that might come and have such a big impact like the couple that you mentioned with Dutch elm and then ash with emerald ash borer.

[00:05:27]Um but emerald ash borer for instance is something that we actively manage to protect our canopy and our ash population.

[00:05:34]Um we have arborists that are out there maintaining, pruning, um removing dangerous trees and planting new ones so we can have a resilient forest for years to come.

[00:05:44]So, I'd say good.

[00:05:45]>> Yeah. Um I bet you're asked this a lot and I'm putting you on the spot.

[00:05:51]Do you have any idea how many trees we have? Is that Is there any way to quantify that? I know it's hard because we have county parks, but we have, you know, >> Right. As far as like the whole the total number of trees, it's in the millions. The city of Milwaukee manages um a little under 200,000 trees along the street and in the park.

[00:06:08]>> Yeah.

[00:06:09]>> Wow. I'm glad you asked that. 200k that you guys are directly responsible for, but it's somebody It's in somebody's backyard. Okay. Um another question. I'm embarrassed when I look at my backyard and I'm I'm blessed to have a number of different trees. I can't tell you what's an ash, which one's an oak, which one I know which one is a aspen because I planted it.

[00:06:30]>> Sure.

[00:06:31]>> And the pear tree I've got down. Is there a app that you can recommend for people that or is there some way to be able to tell without hiring an arborist to say that's an ash, that's an oak, that's a willow?

[00:06:43]>> Well, I don't want to speak against my industry and discourage anyone from hiring an arborist because that's really like where the professionals there and any of the apps that you pick have their limitation.

[00:06:53]Um but I I personally I think iNaturalist is good, but I'm saying that as a personal comment, not as a representative of the city. It's It's a good app, but there's a number of them out there.

[00:07:04]Um and then most arborists, too, they'll do consultations free of cost or if you have questions, you can even submit a request to the city of Milwaukee. Um and we'll usually try to help figure it out with you.

[00:07:15]>> And how important is it to trim our trees? To to keep that canopy uh you know, I don't want to say clear, but neat.

[00:07:24]>> Yeah.

[00:07:25]Uh very important. So, it like neat like keeping it clear and neat what what we I would call as like the aesthetic reasons why we prune trees is important to help beautify the streets of our city, but it also goes to like the longevity of the urban forest and of these trees. We're pruning trees to help prevent structural issues that cause trees to, you know, completely break apart or branches um to have weak attachments to the trunk. So, basically give them the best chance we can to survive in a really tough condition growing between that little narrow space in between the curb and the and the sidewalk.

[00:07:57]>> Got you. I'm going to end this interview the way I end every interview, whether it's live or on tape. Is there anything I haven't asked you about tree health or what you need from us as citizens, whether you live in the city of Milwaukee or not. I happen to live in Whitefish Bay, but I'm sure the advice would be similar.

[00:08:12]Um anything I haven't asked you that's important?

[00:08:15]>> Sure. I Well, just on the note of of watering, one thing a rule of thumb that I that I think would be helpful for everybody to know when you're talking about your watering commitment, um the amount of time it takes for a tree to become established, generally speaking, is about 1 year for every inch in diameter that the trunk is. So, if you have a plant a young tree and it's about 2 in in diameter, then you could assume that for it would take about 2 years for it to get established, and you would want to keep watering it during those full 2 years.

[00:08:45]Or if it's a smaller tree, maybe 1 year, but all trees can benefit from supplemental watering, but it's especially crucial for those younger ones.

[00:08:53]>> Well, first thing I do when I'm getting home, I'm taking up on your advice and I'm going to check, cuz I do have that fledgling pine that I really want I really want to see grow, cuz it could be a beautiful tree. I'm going to make sure I'm not overwatering it, which is a danger that we can be doing, too.

[00:09:07]Erin Stokel, Forestry Services Manager, City of Milwaukee, and obviously a tree lover.

[00:09:13]Um do you have a favorite tree? Is there one or do you not want to play favorites?

[00:09:17]>> Oh my gosh, they they all serve their role, but I'm partial to a few native trees. I probably would say musclewood is my favorite, but >> Musclewood?

[00:09:24]>> Musclewood. It's a native understory tree in Wisconsin, has beautiful fall color, really um really neat bark, in my opinion, and form. But, they're all they're all great.

[00:09:33]>> At 3:30 I'm going to Google that when I'm off the air, cuz I've never heard of a muscle witch.

[00:09:38]Uh fun talking to you. Thanks for your advice on trees and um we'll talk down the road again, I hope.

[00:09:43]>> Sounds good. Thank you.

[00:09:44]>> All right. Thank you so much.