Urban foresters urge homeowners in Kalispell to water their trees

City crews in Kalispell cut down 40 trees this year that had dried up due to a lack of water and officials are asking residents to aid the struggling perennial plants.

Several years of minimal rainfall in the Flathead Valley has resulted in dried up, brittle, trees, said Urban Forestry Supervisor Colter Hanson. The department is urging homeowners to water their trees, including those along city streets, he said.    

“It’s been five out of the six years we’ve been pretty far below average precipitation,” Hanson said. 

Lack of water is affecting trees both young and old, across the city and regardless of species. Hanson said drought is the biggest stressor on trees right now.  

“We removed quite a few in July, because they didn’t come back this year,” he said.  

Parks Superintendent Fred Bicha said late June, early July is when people need to water their mature trees, when precipitation is minimal.  While watering a young tree is common knowledge, watering one that is fully grown was not a concern in the past, but years of drought have made it a necessity.  

“Having grown up in urban forestry for a long time, I moved here about 11 years ago, and I would have never thought of recommending to someone to water a mature tree,” Bicha said.  

Hanson recommended giving mature trees a deep soaking twice a week. This entails leaving the hose running for 15 to 20 minutes until the ground becomes saturated. Overwatering a tree is not a concern, he said.  

Through the city’s Boulevard Tree Cost Share Program, a homeowner must fill out an application to have a tree planted in their boulevard, which is the buffer between private property and street. The homeowner must incur half the cost of planting the tree and commit to watering it. 

The city uses 10 to 15 gallons a week to water trees planted within three years, said Hanson. But it is crucial that homeowners water their trees on top of what the city provides.   

“You can literally see the growth in the ones that are getting supplementally watered from the homeowner,” Hanson said.  

KALISPELL IS home to many tree species, but maples make up around 40% of the population and have been around for 125 years. There are 4,000 mature maples in the city, said Bicha, and they are being particularly affected by drought.  

The stress of old age compounds with a lack of water, inviting insects, disease and leaf scorch, he said.  

“What we’re seeing is the decline of the trees more rapidly than you would expect, because of compounding stress,” said Hanson.  

Trees show signs of stress slowly, so by the time it becomes noticeable, it can be too late, he said. Signs of stress include red cupped leaves, encroaching weeds and dry, fragile branches.  

“When you’re seeing stress on a tree this year, it’s not because it’s stressed out this year, it’s because it was stressed out last year, the year before,” Hanson said.  

Hanson said he saw a lot of branches that hit the permanent wilting point, meaning they no longer take up water and essentially become a dead limb. 

Even newly planted trees are failing to grow because of a lack of water, which Hanson said has been a problem since he took his position four years ago.   

“We’re having a difficult time planting trees because the probability of them not surviving is greater than we’d like so we have to be choosy where we’re putting trees,” he said. “We can’t be planting new trees, and then they don’t get any water, and they’re dead, because it’s a waste of time and money.”  

Hanson said it can be hard for people to understand the importance of planting new trees, because the community has been enjoying colorful foliage from trees planted over a century ago. Planting new trees is a means of passing that beauty on to future generations. 

Around 60 trees get planted yearly, according to Bicha.  

Martin Rippens, who is part of a committee overseeing the city’s trees, said people complain about the cost of water, but healthy trees add to property value. Bicha said the average mature maple downtown is worth around $14,000. 

“Your investment in watering your tree is much greater than watering your yard,” Hanson said.  Lawns can bounce back after some time without water, but that is not the case for trees.   

Next spring will give officials a better understanding of the drought’s impact around town. 

“We’re really anxious about next year’s bud break to see what does come back. Because there were a lot of trees this August, start of September, that started showing signs of extreme stress,” Hanson said.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at junderhill@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.