Question
Dear Sir,
I recently planted (about 6 weeks ago) several ash trees. I am not sure of the specific strain. I have been watering them weekly, and they each have about a 3 foot cirle of wood mulch at the base.

The trees are about 3 to 4 inch diameter at the trunk and range between 10 and 15 ft tall.

A couple of weeks ago, small leaves started to come out, and they have continued to grow slowly but steadily.

Today, I noticed that some of the leaves have begun to curl up. They are not really wilted or limp, they just sort of "ball up" with no significant change in color.

This effect is only seen on some of the leaves, I would say 30 percent or so.

Is this normal? Am I watering wrong? I live in North Idaho, 2400 ft elevation. The daytime temps have been steady in the 70s. We have had little or no natural precipitation since I planted the trees.

I deeply appreciate any help in this matter!
Thank you,
Brian

Answer
Newly planted trees do go through a period of stress and this can effect the foliage of the tree. It is hard to tell so I will  list the proper way to plant a tree and you can see if one of these may be incorrect.

The new hole should be twice the size of the rootball and fill the hole with good top soil.

Mulch with not more than 4 inches deep of mulch and do not pile the mulch up on the trunk--taper the mulch toward the trunk to about 1 inch deep with in 6 inches of the trunk.

Water with 1 inch of water each week when it does not rain. Put a pan under the tree when watering and when the pan has 1 inch of water in it stop. Do not over water this is as bad as not watering.



Do not use a lawn fertilizer with weed killer in it like Weed and Feed. The herbicide will damage the tree.