And ensuring that it gets regular deep watering while it gets established is essential. This brings us to our next subject, which is the alkalinity of our water. Deep, infrequent waterings is your best bet. Planting your tree in a lawn or a poorly drained area will exacerbate this problem. Making a knowledgeable tree choice will also help you avoid this problem, as will adding sulfur at the time of planting.
Some trees are just more sensitive to alkaline soils than others.
Dogwoods, camphor trees and liquidambers should probably crossed off your planting list. This does not mean that you will not see the occasional beautiful specimen that will cause you to think back on this article with questions. But be aware that if you are going to stretch the boundaries of recommended tree varieties, you may need to take extra measures to encourage successful growth. If you have an existing tree in a lawn area that is showing signs of chlorosis due to alkalinity, you may want to pull back the sod, dig 6 deep around the drip line of the tree, throw in some sulfur and replace the sod. If a similarly stressed tree is in a bed area, put a layer of sulfur down from the trunk out to beyond the drip line.