This past week, I implemented another technique I learned in landscaping school. It’s a way to direct water from a drip line straight down to the roots of a tree. This Sweet Acacia has struggled since I planted it two years ago so it was high time to help it out. This technique will also solve the problem of the other plants getting too much water.

I started by digging 9 holes about 1 foot deep and let the water run for a few hours.
I could almost hear the tree roots sighing with relief as they were slurping up the water 🙂

Then I gathered up nine 1 gallon pots (save everything!) and cut off the bottoms.

Next I positioned the pots in the holes so the tops were just above ground level and held them in place while filling with small rocks. This let the rocks fall deeper so the pots were then sitting on the rocks.

The last step is to put a drip line into each pot and then cover them with decomposed granite.

I should add that I put in about twice as many holes than were needed but this was to give the tree a boost. As it recovers, I will plug up about half of the drip lines.

By the way, this area has the best soil on the property so my plan is to continue to plant flowering cactus and succulents there. I call it my Macro garden. Unfortunately, it’s also known as Javelina Cafe 🙂

Next on the agenda? Fencing.