We have fielded many calls the last couple of weeks from customers with concerns about their plants – be it perennials, shrubs or trees.  Such as,  “Why are my birch tree’s leaves turning yellow?”   So we ask a couple of questions such as “How have you been watering it” and almost all of the time, the answer is we have had all this rain – I haven’t watered.  June 2014 – the wettest June on record (except at the Mpls/St Paul airport – the second wettest June)……     Now we have the driest July in many years.  We are at a rainfall deficit for July.

This week we did some landscaping here at our home and I had to move a couple of perennials to another part of the garden.  I dug these up and the ground surrounding them was a nice black powder.  Yes, powder.  There was no moisture in the surrounding soil.  Being in the woods, I was surprised that it was this dry.

It is important that you water even your established plants now because lack of moisture will put a stress on them as well as any newly installed plant material.    If you have established plant material – set up the sprinkler and let it run for an hour or so in a given area, and keep moving it.  On new plants, you should follow the watering instruction sheet applicable to the size of plant material.

The forecast next week calls for some rain – let’s hope, but in the meantime – help out your landscape with a little drink!