Tree Planting and Tree Bag Program 2024

Every year, the city of Viroqua plants 50+ new trees in public areas, such as boulevards and parks. In order to ensure the heath of young trees planted in recent years, the City of Viroqua, with the help of a Wisconsin DNR grant, has created the Viroqua Tree Planting and Tree Bag Program. In the first few years of a tree’s life, it requires regular watering. Wisconsin often has long stretches of dry weather during the summer months. This deficiency of water can put stress on young trees. In order to ensure the health and growth of young trees in the community, the city is setting up tree watering bags around trees planted 1-3 years ago located in the street right of ways and boulevards. In Viroqua, a boulevard is described as the area between the sidewalk and the curb, while the right of way is the area between the curb and the property line (roughly 5-15 feet).

During the month of July 2024, these bags will be installed around the city on boulevard trees that require the extra watering assistance. Informative flyers about how to use these bags will be handed out to residents who have a tree watering bag set up in their boulevard. Before the winter months, the city will recollect the tree bags for winter storage. 

What is a Tree Watering Bag and Why is it Used?

Tree watering bags are an efficient tree watering tool to make sure that young trees have enough water to grow. These bags can hold 20 gallons of water and have small holes at their bottoms that allows the bag to empty over a 5-8 hour period. Watering this way allows for the soil around the roots to be saturated up to 8 inches below ground. After a few years of growth, tree’s roots develop and spread deep enough so they are self-sustaining and no longer need the assistance of watering bags.

            Figure 1. Young tree being watered with a watering bag.

Water Bag Setup, Usage, and Care

The watering bag setup includes these steps:

1. Wrap bag around the trunk of the tree.                                                                   
2. Zip up the bag from bottom to top.                                                                           
3. Insert a hose into the opening and turn on your water.                                                             
4. Fill bag until it is roughly a quarter filled, then carefully lift the bag by its straps to expand the bottom. Gently set the bag back down.
5. Fill the rest of the bag until you reach a desired level.

The watering bag should be filled once a week to provide enough water for the tree. If there is an inch or more of rainfall during the week, you should not fill the bag. If the leaves on your tree show signs of wilting, being undersized, and/or browning, it may be that your tree is not receiving enough water. In these cases, you may increase watering to two bags a week.