Customer Reviews

Treegator Original 20-Gallon Slow Release Watering Bag for Trees

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I looked for these because my University uses them for new plantings. I was happy to see them on Amazon for a reasonable price.
I just got these a few days ago (including the Gator Jr which is a flat brown doughnut shape that fits under bushes but also doesn't look so obvious in my front yard under trees). It was easy to set up and fill with water. There are two small valves on the bottom that slowly allow water out - the water empties in 6 to 20 hours and the instructions say one refill a week for most new trees is normal. I might fill twice in August heat and am considering purchasing more given the drought-like weather in our area.

first off;I am a certified tree and shrub specialist(by Davey Tree) and a horticulturalist
so that may help with my review.
the treegator is a well built device with many not-so-obvious features and also a few drawbacks

it can:
*give deep penetrating water to roots that would take a person with a hose about 20mins to do per tree
*it can be stored flat as a shopping bag when not in use
*it can (when full) provide some stability to the root ball during high winds

it can't:
* it can NOT be filled and then transported to the tree,when unzipped(when full) the bag sprawls out and can not be rezipped (until you empty the bag).this is important to anyone who wants to water a remote tree with no hose access.
(i have 14acres and this is a problem)but if you are in hose reach you have no problem.

tip; rotate the bag off-on every couple weeks to let the trunk get some sun and airflow.this will prevent mold from taking hold on the trunk or bugs nesting.

i gave this product 5 stars because of its well thought out design.i have read some comments about the bag leaving a gallon or so in the bottom...this is a good thing as the weighted wet bag acts as a mulch"cap" to retain moisture
under the bag i.e. the bag prevents evaporation and allows condensation to keep the bags footprint moist also,i don't know if the designers planned that but it does add to the overall root system hydration.

I've purchase many Tree Gator Jrs and been very happy with them. This was the 1st Tree Gator 20 gal I purchased and now I'm up grading all the Jr's. It is so much easier to fill and a must for establishing new trees.

This is easy to zip up around a new tree and do some soaking.

However, I found during my first watering that there was water left in the bottom. Not a lot, but it didn't drain out totally.

Also, I worry there is insufficient air flow around the trunk.

All in all, I prefer the smaller donut soaker made by gator. That leaves airflow around the trunk and seemed to drain better. I think that one has a smaller capacity, but I still prefer it.

watering occurs over 4-9 hours and can be done weekly. These are easy to zip around small trees and easy to fill.

This is exactly what I was looking for for my newly planted trees. They are very easy to install and fill. Thanks for a great product.

I live in North Texas and even before our current drought, it was tough to get trees and bushes to really take root despite watering aggressively with the hose and/or sprinkler system. Once I started using the tree gator and tree gator jr, my Magnolia, Crepe Myrtle, and other plantings started thriving while using a lot less water. The durability of the product is very impressive. The small footprint doesn't even force me to move the bags before mowing. I also like the design, which is well though out for for easy refilling. The only potential drawback I see is that the weight of the bag when full might be too much for really small trees, but the Tree Jator Jr would probably work in these cases.

In addition to the good quality of the product, I was particularly pleased to learn it was made in America. Personally, I'm tired of sending my money to China, and commend the owners of Tree Gator for both the quality of their products and for keeping production in the USA.

The Tree Gator is a great idea, but it could be improved. My main problem with the Tree Gator is that I thought it slowly released water over several days. Actually, the water is all gone after several hours. For future models, there is a fabric they could use in the TG that would release the water slower and thus reduce the frequency of refills. This would probably add to the cost though. Another idea would be to make the flap that covers the water intake hole sealable. Since it's not currently sealable, mosquitoes can get in the TG and lay eggs in the water.

Product delivers on its promise to consistenly water the tree and the company is very reliable. Filling the bag(s) requires bringing a hose to it frequently so that it is really most useful for foundation plantings or trees quite close to the water source. We found frequent unreeling of 150 of hose to be unrewarding.

We had 7 pretty large trees planted in OK in late March of 2011. The first thing that happened two weeks later were high winds that uprooted four of them and blew them over. Our landscapers replanted them and then we started in with an extremely hot summer (over 100 degrees daily for over a month) and watering restrictions. They came out and put the Treegators on all of the trees (we lost one due to it never rooting from the first replant) and I have been faithfully filling them about every other day. The trees are hanging in there and I am so pleased.

Treegators are simple to use; my only complaint is that sometimes the water doesn't seep out the bottom if they're not sitting straight and you really have to resettle the bags. Important to fill them 1/4 of the way, make sure they are sitting straight, and then refill the rest of the way. I called the company for trouble shooting on this and they were helpful.

I bought a couple more for the year old trees in the backyard; I think they are a great invention!

Joan from Mounds, OK