Origin of the Tree I-V Concept

Necessity is the mother of invention - Plato

As my head hit the pillow, I let out a relaxing sigh. Night time silence was descending, but now joined by the unmistakable sound of water cavitating through the hydrant below our window. "Curses" I exclaimed, remembering the tree watering chore started that morning was still in process.

We were only a year settling into our newly built home. With the bare hillside tract recently adorned with six new trees, we dreamed of the autumn beauty and summertime shade they would provide from the Kansas heat. However, these trees needed to survive the transplant and live to self-sufficiency first. Watering trees was not a new concept in 1997, but it was for us.

The plan: Spend two hours every Saturday morning slow-soaking each tree for 15-20 minutes. Why slow? It seems the sloped landscape had an uncanny way of convincing water to run downhill to a state of uselessness. But a slow trickle of water was able to soak nicely into the recently disturbed soil around our trees. So my first attempt yielded one tree getting 15 minutes, tree two getting 12 hours, and the remaining four got nothing. Rats!

The rural community where I grew up in the 70's and 80's consisted of mostly full-or part-time farmers. We had more mechanical aptitude than money, so creative problem solving was used instead of online shopping. On the very next Saturday morning as I lay in bed pondering a more efficient system, I had my epiphany. Attach a deep-feeding tube to a common 5-gallon bucket. If it worked, I could just fill six buckets and be done!

With the energy of a 3-year old on a bag of Skittles, I rose with my vision and headed to the shop. There I found a 12" long stick of 3/4" conduit to use for the feeding tube. By smashing one end, it could be driven into the ground without filling with soil. By drilling a few small cross holes near the bottom, it would allow water flow into the soil. A 3/4" hole in the bottom of an old bucket fit the top of the conduit, and my first prototype was ready to test.

I tapped the tube into the root-well of a tree, then set the bucket on the tube, and went for the hose. After a 30 second fill, I watched in giddy amazement as the entire 5-gallons disappeared into the ground. Total drain time was about 15 minutes, with no run-off. My problem was solved...exceeding my own lofty expectations. A 2-hour process had just been reduced to 5 minutes.

Building a business from this idea took a while to manifest, so that story comes later. But let me tell you, solving a problem like MacGyver is one of the best feelings available to the human psyche. I encourage it and wish it on everyone! Thanks for reading.