A Life With Trees LLC

05/06/2026

Watering your yard trees is a lot like the story of Goldilocks—too much is a problem, too little is a problem, and the goal is to get it just right with deep, infrequent watering. The challenge is balancing the needs of trees with shallow-rooted plants like grass while recreating the tree’s natural environment with mulch around the base.

When trees get too little water, the signs often appear slowly. Leaves may wilt, curl, scorch, or drop early. Growth slows, and over time the tree becomes more vulnerable to pests and disease. Many homeowners assume light watering is enough, but shallow watering only wets the surface soil. Established tree roots live much deeper, so if water never reaches them, the tree remains stressed even when the lawn looks green.

Too much water can also harm trees. Overwatering fills the soil’s air spaces and deprives roots of oxygen. Constantly soggy soil can lead to root rot, fungal problems, yellowing leaves, and branch dieback. Because overwatering symptoms can resemble drought stress, people often add even more water, making the issue worse.

The “just right” approach is deep, infrequent watering. Instead of quick daily sprinkling, water slowly and thoroughly so moisture penetrates 12–18 inches into the soil, then allow the soil to partially dry before watering again.

A simple moisture test:
• If a screwdriver or finger slides easily into moist soil a few inches down, conditions are good.
• If the ground is dry and hard, it’s time to water.

Mulch also plays an important role. A 2–4 inch layer of chunky bark or wood chips around the tree—while keeping mulch away from the trunk—helps retain moisture, regulate soil temperature, and mimic a forest floor. Young trees benefit from a 2–3 foot mulch ring, while mature trees do best with a wider 3–6 foot area.

If you rely only on lawn sprinklers, your grass may thrive while your trees quietly decline. Lawns prefer frequent shallow watering, but trees need occasional deep soaking. Keep your lawn schedule, but add dedicated deep watering for trees every week or two during dry periods.

A Life With Trees – Your Expert Tree Care in the Columbia Gorge
Free assessments: 541-806-2333

05/02/2026

Before and after pictures of a big removal project we just finished in Lyle. These customers lost their home and had over 80 trees burned in the Burdoin fire in 2025. We removed the burned trees, chipped all the brush, hauled the wood, and ground the stumps in 2.5 days. Strong work from our team.

04/17/2026

2021 Avant 528 for sale. $30,000 obo. A little over 800 hours. Just had a full service done. Ready to work. Will come with two sets of tires and knock around grapple.

04/16/2026

Doing a bit of spring cleaning and getting rid of extra and unused climbing gear. Would love to hook folks up with some good stuff for a good price but also really trying to raise some $ to buy the Blackbird so it can be the latest beautiful thing to hang in our shipping container and never be touched since all I ever climb on anymore is a worn out Zigzag that barely holds my ass.

So… The long and short of it is, all of this stuff is on my ebay account under the name drilling_fool which I got way back in the late 90’s/early 2000’s when I was buying bolting hardware and drills on ebay for putting up new routes and replacing bolts at Smith Rock. Hit me up if I should end an auction early to avoid ebay fees.

03/11/2026

Spring growth is right around the corner. Now’s a great time to address deadwood and structural issues before trees put out more leaves and catch more wind. Reach out for a free assessment by giving us a call at 541-806-2333 or fill out our request form online at https://alifewithtrees.com and we'll reach out shortly to schedule your assessment.

02/27/2026

The Tree Doctor will see you now.
Schedule your tree check up with us by calling 541-806-2333. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

You probably aren’t watering or pruning the 75-foot oak or maple in the front yard, but mature trees aren’t maintenance free.

02/27/2026

Big rotten willow. Glad to be done.

01/23/2026

So this morning we showed up to remove this 51” diameter incense cedar. I had a chat with the client and she told me she was disappointed she couldn’t keep the tree. i looked at it a bit and recommended removing the lead that split off during the recent wind storm, the co-dominant lead next to it, and reduction pruning on all of the other leads. She agreed and we got to work. A lot of controlled speedline, rigging with a tag line, and a dump trailer of wood later, and we have a significantly reduced tree with a much lower risk profile.

01/08/2026

If you have large trees that fell over in the recent storm please let us know if you need help with cleaning up the wood or grinding the stumps. We have the tools and techniques to take care of any size wood or stumps.

WA #: ALIFEWT789D9 | LCB #: 100741

12/25/2025

As we all slowly get our feet under us after the recent wind storm there are some things to look for in your yard. Are there broken tops or hanging branches? Do any of your trees have a more pronounced lean than you remember? If you think a tree is leaning more than used to the most important thing to do is check out the base. Look for cracking in the soil, bulges on the upper side of the root plate or a depression on the compression side.

While you are checking out the bases of your trees another thing to look for is mushrooms. Ganoderma and armillaria are two mushrooms that can cause significant decay at the bases of different trees but in our area are most commonly seen negatively impacting the Oregon oak trees. If you have douglas fir or grand fir trees that fall over with very few roots, there may be laminated root rot or Schweinitzii root and butt rot. Proper identification of fungi can help with management decisions and potentially treatment plans.

Please reach out through our contact form on our web page www.alifewithtrees.com or call us at (541) 806-2333 if you have concerns about your trees.

WA #: ALIFEWT789D9 | LCB #: 100741