Help Your Trees: Urban Forestry Reminds Residents to Water Newly Planted Trees

If a tree has been planted on the terrace in front of your home by Urban Forestry within the last five years, or if you had a tree planted on your private property in that same window of time, please water the tree as needed to increase its chance of survival.

Young trees need watering, especially while conditions are abnormally dry like they are now.

Starting on today, July 14, 2026, Urban Forestry deployed crews to water young trees on the terrace.

However, there are 100,000 terrace trees around Madison - so we can use your help watering the trees in front of your home.

And you should water any young trees on your private property, too.

How to Water a Tree

Trees may require 10 gallons of water a week. Be careful not to over water. You should take any rainfall into account as well.

You can tell if a young tree needs watering by checking the soil.

The soil around the tree should be moist, like a wrung-out sponge.

When watering, make sure the water flow is slow enough so the ground absorbs the water and does not run off.

Dispense the water all around the tree so the entire root ball can be hydrated.

Additional Resources

More information about caring for new trees can be found on the Urban Forestry website.

For more information specifically about tree watering, the Wisconsin DNR published a useful article about this topic or check out the US Forest Services' Tree Owner's Manual.