Glossary term
What is Drip line?
Short answer
Drip line is the imaginary circle on the ground under the outer tips of a tree's branches.
Drip line, explained for tree service owners
The drip line is the edge of the area under a tree's branches, where rain would drip off the outer leaves. Many people use it as a rough guide for where to protect the roots, because many of the small feeding roots lie near the drip line or beyond it. For a tree service owner, the drip line is a simple tool to explain to a homeowner or builder. You can say to keep trucks, soil piles and trenches outside that circle when possible. It is only a rule of thumb. For a more careful measure of root space, use the critical root zone, which is based on trunk size and can be wider or narrower than the drip line.
Related terms
- Critical root zone
Critical root zone is the area around a trunk that holds the roots a tree needs to stay healthy and stable.
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