Drought visible in many places in the VG Konz - where the administration waters trees and why artificial irrigation is sometimes dispensed with
Conc, August 8, 2022
The drought in the VG Konz continues. Some trees are already getting yellow leaves, many water bodies are only small rivulets or are completely dry, for example the Grawelsbach in Wiltingen or the Fallweiher in Konz-Oberemmel. No rain is in sight this week either. Nature is already stressed by the particularly dry July.
PHOTO: The fall pond in Konz-Oberemmel dried up completely in August
The city of Konz has therefore had the young trees watered regularly for weeks. They suffer particularly from the drought. Older trees are usually more resilient and are therefore only irrigated artificially in exceptional cases. In addition, older trees have a deeper root system, which enables them to get water from the deeper layers of the soil.
If old trees are only watered superficially and on the trunk, this promotes the formation of adventitious roots, i.e. emergency roots in the area near the surface. This in turn can make the trees even more susceptible to drought.
If you still want to water old trees, you should do this in the entire eaves area of the crown and also with a large amount of water (at least 150 to 200 liters). This is the only way for it to go deep and be available to the roots there. The water consumption for this would be immense.
There is no shortage of drinking water in our region. The Verbandsgemeindewerke Konz emphasize that the past few weeks, which have been largely free of precipitation, should not cause anyone to worry about the drinking water supply. Nevertheless, water is a resource that should be used carefully and sustainably. For the administration, this means only watering the particularly sensitive, younger trees that can really be helped and that depend on artificial irrigation.
Since there will probably be more and more heat and dry phases in summer in the future, the administration makes sure that climate-adapted tree species are selected when planting new trees. For example, a blue bell tree and two Japanese patricia trees were planted last year at the evangelical church in Konz-Karthaus in the hope that they will cope well with the weather changes of the coming decades. Most recently, service tree, almond, mulberry, walnut and Judas trees as well as elms and hop beeches were planted in the city of Konz, because they too should be able to survive longer periods without precipitation.
Another place in Konz where the drought is visible is the newly designed Maierspark. It is currently still closed to the public so that the grass can grow without external influences. However: nothing can grow there without rain and artificial irrigation for weeks on such large areas is not sustainable. The only thing that remains is to wait for longer lasting downpours, which can be well absorbed by the soil and thus by nature.