Extreme drought conditions are hitting Cedar Rapids, Iowa City or Waterloo areas. It doesn’t come as any surprise that we have now been upgraded to extreme drought status. Being in extreme drought conditions has a lot to do with the quality of your lawn and landscape. We are roughly 4″ of rainfall under our normal July average, which means that your grass, shrubs and trees are not receiving the water that they need to survive. Since we had drought conditions starting in May, most of the moisture in the soil was used up from Mid may to the first of July. Your lawn and landscape has basically gone for a month without receiving enough moisture to properly function.
Extreme drought conditions in trees and lawns.
If you are seeing curling on your tree leaves or discoloration of the leaves, make sure that you water. If you have an irrigation system and your tree leaves are still curling or discoloring, you are most likely not getting enough moisture to the plant. We are seeing established trees and plants with healthy root systems fall prey to the lack of moisture. If your perennials or deciduous shrubs are turning color, they too need watering. Some perennials and deciduous shrubs will look rough the remainder of the year, but if you start watering them now you can save them. Next year they will leaf again and be fine. The important thing to do is make sure that they make it to next year.
If you start doing the math and add up all of your trees and shrubs, it is cheaper to water now then to replace later. Most lawn maintenance customers are saving money by not mowing and that money can be used to keep your plants alive. You don’t have to break the budget, but make sure that your shrubs receive at least a gallon or two of water twice a week for the next few weeks. Your trees will need quite a bit more water depending on the size of the tree, but generally a good soaking with five or ten gallons twice a week will do the trick.