Did you know the tallest living tree in the world is a nearly 400-foot redwood? Towering redwoods like the Hyperion leave us in awe. To evoke such strong emotions, redwoods need to keep their many limbs and needles looking fresh, which requires lots of water!
Ted, a Davey blog reader, reached out when he noticed his young redwood tree had “brown needles from the bottom to halfway up one side facing the sun. What can I do to help it go back to green?”
Drought and other stressors are tough on redwoods, but they can bounce back. Here’s how to spot, and help, a stressed redwood tree.
A lack of water is usually what turns redwoods from fresh green to a bone-dry brown. But some pests and disease also cause redwoods to change color.
Redwoods are evergreen trees, so when they stray from their signature color, there could be a problem.
Here’s what your redwood is trying to tell you with its color change:
If you drink enough water, you likely slurp up eight glasses filled with eight ounces each day. Redwoods, though, need to drink 160 glasses of that size every day to stay hydrated!
To help stressed redwoods, you almost always need to give them more water! That's especially true for redwoods in the summer and young redwoods, like Ted’s tree. Newly-planted trees rely on a steady watering schedule year-round during their first year. Scroll on for details on watering your redwood.
Or if you suspect a pest or disease is attacking your tree, use the below checklist to see what’s up.
Deep watering is an effective way to replenish your redwood and conserve resources. Here’s how.