They only need a drink when the soil is lacking moisture.

It can rain an 1", remain humid and you may not need to water plants (even newly planted plants from this past spring) in clay soil for several weeks even if it is in the 80s.

It's been in the upper 80's and lower 90's here for some time already. Summer came long before the official date ....

Soil moisture here is actually above normal. Mostly been in the mid 80's with ridiculously high humidity for June (more like August). Hopefully the d word (drought) will not be part of my gardening vocab this season. The only established shrubs I usually end up watering are my Rhododendrons and Holly. Supposed to be a warmer than normal Summer for East Coast, not sure what the forecast is for precip. Enjoy the weekend.

We've been similar to last summer so far - slightly less rain but still near/above normal, and warm, but not oppressive - we've been running a bit above average but no 100+ temps and only a handful of 90+. It's been quite humid, and even though we've had a couple 2-week stretches with little rain, soil moisture is pretty good. We are in a good pattern of storms every few days, some with smaller totals but a good 1"er every 10-20 days or so with smaller amts in between. Should end up about 4" or a bit over for June.

As far as drought, the East Coast as a whole seems to be low-risk per what I've read, but a short-term dry spell or 'D0' situation is always a possibility even in a "non-drought" year.

Last summer - we went from wet to dry almost overnight around mid July - by Sept 1 crops were wilting (although it happened late enough that most crops yielded OK) and lawns brown, but the local forecast gurus kept denying a drought was imminent...then suddenly they acknowledged it when the US Drought Monitor maps showed most of MD and N. VA in "D0" (abnormally dry) status. Then, as fast as it happened, we got 6" of rain over a few days in early October. Ended the year about 4-6" above normal in 2013.

This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Fri, Jun 27, 14 at 12:41

whaas is completely correct. Trees and shrubs do not automatically need more water when air temperatures are high. In fact, the combination of too much soil moisture and high soil temperatures is what activates the various phytophthora root diseases. Unless the soil is very dry and/or plants are exhibiting obvious signs of needing water , it is much better to avoid watering during hot spells.

Hasn't hit 90F here yet -- highest so far is 89F way back in late May. Moderate summer so far w/good moisture.

Precip:
May -- 4.80"
June -- 6.11" so far

This post was edited by beng on Sat, Jun 28, 14 at 8:46

80s sounds like a paradise to me in Texas...

Mostly mild temperature for central Texas along with decent amount of rainfall. Not too bad compared to previous years esp 2011 which was really horrible (and 2004-2005 for Dallas-Fort Worth area). I only water deeply if we've gone too far without soaking rainfall in the summer. I want my young trees to continue to grow at rapid rate for immediate shade rather sooner than later.

"Any time it hits 80 degrees outside, trees and shrubs need a drink."

Just think the statement through. I'm not sure where it comes from but it doesn't bear scrutiny. Do natural woods and forests keel over when that temperature is reached? Do all the trees in people's gardens die off if the owners don't get out there with the hose? The others are right. It's soil moisture, not air temperature which matters to trees.

The weather app has little clouds and raindrops almost every day with sun popping out between them. Near ninety today and looks like rain coming through again. I haven't had to water anything since May and that was a vegetable garden for three days that I had just installed and didn't want the seedlings to dry. It's been a fantastic growing year so far............knock on wood.

Good morning.

All of your points are well taken. I'm waving the white flag of defeat. lol

I guess I just remember the drought last year and how so many trees died because people didn't water them.

I can see that a long drought would make you wary. But drought isn't defined by temperature. Rather it's lack of water in the ground. Trees 'drink' through their roots, not their leaves.

I think the OP's statement is reasonably true for anything newly planted.

My container plants need water every few days if it's even 75 degrees - but I've yet to have to water anything in the ground this year.

As a side note, it infuriates me to see municipalities, states, and companies spend gargantuan amounts of money to plant trees...and never give them a drop of water after the initial planting...then 2 years later, spend thousands more to replace the ones that died because they didn't spend a few hundred watering them properly the first year.

The last few years though, I see more new trees with the green Treegator bags on them - but can't say whether or not they're actually being filled.