Since trees take up soil water, could trees be used to drain farmland naturally?
By transpiration, trees, like crops, can remove significant amounts of water from soil. If planted dense enough, could trees act as an effective natural substitute for tile drainage on farmland? Trees remove little soil water during times of critical farming activities. In order to remove soil water through transpiration, water must evaporate through photosynthesizing deciduous leaves or needles of conifers. Trees remove water from soil when crops absorb water from soil, during the growing season, from mid-spring to early autumn. At other times of the year, trees transpire very little water out of the soil. Although some moisture evaporates from trees during winter dormancy, the amount is small. Trees remove very little water from soil before early spring and after mid-autumn since leaves are absent or are no longer functional, and for most conifers, needles are either ending or beginning their winter dormant period. Early spring and fall are critical times when land needs to be draine
