Hi Michael,

With the amount of rain we are getting, I think we are all worried that both us and our plants might drown. But joking apart, while the persistent rain right now is rather worrisome, it is not particularly unusual or even excessive. May is our wettest month of the year, and this May - while wet - has not actually broken any records.

Since you are on the Travis/Hays county line, the chances are that you are on limestone and your soil will therefore most likely have good drainage. In addition, parts of Hays county are still considered to be in a drought - so all this rain is actually good news - keeping high temperatures at bay and locking in moisture in the ground. 

Oaks tend to have very extensive root systems, that can reach 4-feet in depth and laterally 90 feet. So excessive puddling around trunk is less likely to affect the roots.

Since your trees still look healthy, I would not be too concerned. And unfortunately, there is not a great deal we can do to combat the rain. However, periods of drought are a much greater worry in this part of Texas and can very seriously impact our trees and oaks.

You mentioned that you had killed a couple of trees with over watering. Rain is not like a watering can or hose that dispatches a large volume of water over a very small area, An inch of rain is actually not all that much compared to water desposited from a hose.

Hope this gives you some reassurance.  

Liz
Travis County Master Gardener