The Tree Diaper: Making Tree Irrigation Easier 

Taking care of a tree is a lot like taking care of a child: both are long-term commitments that require lots of attention and dedication. Passion is an important motivator for tree planting, but the tree shouldn’t be forgotten once it’s in the ground. 

The Nashville Tree Conservation Corps has embraced a new technology that helps it carry out the mission of tree care more effectively. The Tree Diaper, an irrigation product, is a water permeable plastic ring that is laid around the base of a freshly planted tree to absorb water and slowly release it as the tree grows. The packet is filled with water-absorbing material which swells, storing the water to slowly release over time around the base of the tree. NTCC recommends that anyone who purchases a tree through its annual tree sale should buy a Tree Diaper along with it.

How Tree Diapers Are Innovative

• Mobility –

The Tree Diaper doesn’t need to be attached to anything, since it absorbs and releases water wherever it’s placed, and filled by rainfall or watering. 

• Passive design –

The product is meant to be installed and left alone, requiring no maintenance.

• Stability –

The ring is meant to stay around the tree for multiple years, and helps provide a stable and regular water supply and moist soil conditions that help trees establish strong roots.

• Recyclable –

The plastic material in the tree diaper is recyclable and the ring itself can be used for several years.

• Weed control –

The product acts as a ground covering as well as a watering device, decreasing the space for weeds to grow, or for grass to get too close to the trunk. (Watch out for mowing and weed trimming around trees! Bark damage can become a life-threatening problem for a tree, and a Tree Diaper can potentially be damaged by lawn care instruments.)

A Light Bulb Moment

Dr. Wei Zhang, a chemical engineer by training and a tree enthusiast by accident, developed the Tree Diaper with his wife, Hailing Yang, who also holds a doctorate in chemistry. When they had their first child, she thought there had to be a way to make a recyclable diaper material. The couple developed such a diaper, but the application wasn’t very popular. After studying potential uses, they found it made a great irrigation system. The Zhangs formed a new company, Zynnovation LLC, and brought the product to market in 2015. The innovative design has drawn national recognition. In 2018, the Tree Diaper won Best New Product in the Specialty Landscape category at the 2018 Irrigation Association, and in 2019 it was named a Cool Product at the Landscape Show of the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association. 

Leadership and Canopy Care

Zhang says he has been impressed with the Nashville Tree Conservation Corps, citing strong leadership as the reason it is one of the most effective organizations in the nation in terms of planting and distributing trees and educating homeowners on their care. Corps members embrace the long-term process of the Tree Diaper, leaving it around young trees for the first few years while they are getting established. Zhang says people notice the difference after a while, when the survival rates of the trees speak for themselves. The most surprising and attractive thing people learn about the product is that it captures rainwater, meaning they’ll have to do less watering in the long run. 

Innovation is about making things easier, and the Tree Diaper is an excellent example of an environmental technology that we can relate to on an everyday basis as we care for our young trees.