Statewide campaign urges everyone to "Save our Water and our Trees!"

Urban tree advocates across California have joined forces to spread an important message -- during drought, it's critical that we save our water and save our urban trees!

Visit the campaign website for great resources on caring for trees during drought, including great how-to videos for watering young and mature trees.

WATCH - "How To" Videos:

• Watering your young tree
• Watering your mature tree

Learn more about saving water and trees on Canopy's website.

Q: Can I use recycled water to water my trees?

A: Yes, with caution -- not for all trees, and only as a supplement to potable water.

Recycled water is a drought-proof source of water that saves potable water and can be valuable in the landscape as a supplemental source of water.

However, it's important to exercise caution; most recycled water has a high salt content that can harm many tree species and woody plants.

Canopy's recycled water recommendations:

• Avoid spraying recycled water directly on foliage.
• Confine applications of recycled water to lawn and other small landscape plants.
• Near trees, limit application of recycled water to every other week, ensuring recycled water does not represent more than ¼ to 1/3 of the water applied to trees.
• Local companies such as RainDance and Purple Pipe deliver recycled and ground water to residents. Work with them to design the optimal application method and frequency to save both water and trees. 
• Monitor signs of stress in your trees and plants -- for example, changes in leaf color, early leaf drop, or wilting. Contact a plant health expert or certified arborist for advice on adjustments to your watering if changes in health are observed.

More info: City of Palo Alto Recycled Water FAQ.

Reclaiming "dewatering" water

In Palo Alto, the City (and some residents) have also used "dewatering" water -- groundwater pumped out from local basement construction sites -- to water urban trees.

This water from dewatering stations is not as high in salinity as recycled water, but still higher in salinity than most potable water sources. Again, treat it as a supplemental water source for your landscape by mixing or alternating it with potable water.

Use gray water for plants

Note that recycled water is not the same as gray water, which is used potable water from leftover from household use such as baths, dish washing, washing machines, etc.

Gray water may be used on some trees, as long as biodegradable soaps are used. See a list of "Laundry to Landscape" Grey Water resources from the City of Palo Alto.

A few key facts from this year's survey:

• 712 trees surveyed
• 70% had excellent or good health ratings
• 51% needed more water -- up from 39% of trees last year.

Other highlights:

• Digital upgrade: this year, we piloted a new mobile app. It was a great success! We had lots of good feedback from volunteers. We will continue to perfect the app, and plan to use it again next year.
• Immediate relief for thirsty trees: This year, we had a "fast track" process for reporting key data to the City of Palo Alto. Any tree marked as "needs water" was sent to the city immediately. The City then followed up with residents and, where needed, came by with the watering truck to give the thirsty tree a drink.

Read the 2015 Young Tree Care Survey report.

Trees of Stanford: A Walk Through Time

Saturday, October 10, 9am - 12:30pm

Join Canopy, Stanford Historical Society, and local experts as we explore the rich mosaic of Stanford trees on a journey through the past, present, and future.

Featured speakers and tree walk leaders:

• Matt Ritter, Professor of Botany at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo;
• Herb Fong, expert arborist and former Stanford Grounds Supervisor;
• Dave Muffly, Head Arborist for Apple and passionate tree advocate
• Sairus Patel, Editor of the Trees of Stanford website.

The event is free, but space is limited. RSVP today!