I Can Change My Mind, Can't I?

I did. I changed my mind. After making a sketch of the redbud forest area, with the idea of edging in 3 or 4 trees together, I asked myself if that would give me the best water usage. The issue isn't totally water; it's also the cost of commercial mulch and whether so much mulch would benefit the trees. I decided that it wouldn't do much for the individual trees.

So, my current plan is to edge each tree individually, fill in the tree wells with mulch; then, spread pea gravel all over the remaining soil around the tree wells. The gravel will keep the weed population at bay, and each tree will have sufficient mulch to keep the soil around its roots moist. After the pea gravel is laid, I will lay out drip hose and use finer hoses to bring water to each tree basin.

The weather's turned hot, so I'm not sure when I'll begin. But I'll keep a photographic record of my progress.

Tomorrow, I plan to get some photos of my one surviving Hybrid Poplar. I think it's grown almost 4 feet this summer so far. It gets plenty of water. I move the flush hose from the swamp cooler from tree to tree, letting each one get a couple of days of run-off.