On 10/8/04 11:19, in article ,
"Martin " Martin wrote:

On Tue, 10 Aug 2004 10:52:49 +0100, Sacha
wrote:


If it won't damage the roots, or other nearby plants, the OP could stick a
foot length of narrow pipe down into the soil, so that only the top 3 or 4"
are showing. That's done a lot in dry countries and ensures that the hose,
when placed in said pipe, gets the water to where it will do most good!

It's also done to trees planted in the streets in the Netherlands, but
since nobody ever waters the trees, I assumed it was to allow air to
get to the roots. They use corrugated plastic 1" hose here.

I've never heard of it being used to air the roots! But I've seen plenty of
instances of it used at the foot of young trees and shrubs. A lot of
Madeirans used to come to Jersey to work in horticulture and agriculture and
when planting, they often used this method. Once they'd been there awhile
they realised that even in Jersey, it wasn't exactly essential, given the
rainfall! But given the dryness of the last few weeks, it might be a help
to the OP.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)